In Spite of Appearances
by Scribbling Shroud
Summary: In the early days of Hitsugaya's captaincy, his working relationship with Matsumoto is less than ideal. When one of the Tenth's squads goes down under mysterious circumstances, the two must learn to work together if they hope to discover the truth.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All characters and settings of Bleach are the property of Kubo Tite.

**_In Spite of Appearances_**

**CHAPTER ONE**

If Miyamoto didn't have to go directly to the Tenth's offices to deliver this report, then he would have avoided doing so. Sending a Hell Butterfly would have been much preferable, but it just would not have been proper, however much he might have wished it otherwise.

And so he strode down the hall, taking great care not to move too slowly. That would have been his nervousness taking over, and he simply would not allow that. Or he could try not to allow it, at the very least. True, the offices were much cleaner and more organized than they once were, owing to the newly promoted captain. However, what disturbed Miyamoto the was the very obvious tension between said captain and the longstanding vice-captain. The two put on a good show for the division at large, but behind closed doors, they were often at each other's throats.

Of course, Hitsugaya-taichou was too small to actually reach Matsumoto-fukutaichou's throat. The sentiment still carried well enough.

As he turned a corner, Miyamoto shuddered as a blast of icy air blew up the loose sleeves of his shihakushou. And then he paused, uncertain if he should continue. It was the middle of summer, and thus such chilly winds would not spring up out of nowhere on their own. Miyamoto knew what caused them, though, and it took all of his willpower to not turn and flee in the opposite direction.

Unnaturally cold air meant that Hitsugaya-taichou was angry.

Miyamoto took a moment to compose himself. He was the division's third seat, not some rookie. He would not be swayed from his duty just because of a little bit of unpleasantness. And perhaps the captain would not take out his issues with the vice-captain on him. Hitsugaya-taichou was reasonable. Usually.

With this in mind, Miyamoto continued his trek to the office, very proud of himself for marshalling his courage and also for not shivering at the progressively more frigid air. All he had to do was think of it as refreshing. A nice break on a hot summer day. Not that this line of thought was really helping him all that much. He would just have to get used to this, he imagined.

He halted just before the door, hearing Hitsugaya-taichou's sharp voice, every bit as pointed and deadly as his blade. Following that were Matsumoto-fukutaichou's honeyed tones, threatening to suffocate with their sweetness. Miyamoto tried to close his ears to their conversation, but eventually decided that it was best to just deliver the report and get this over with.

Maybe giving his superiors something to do would keep them from sniping at each other for a while.

He knocked firmly on the door. "Hitsugaya-taichou? Third seat Miyamoto with an urgent report regarding the most recent patrol inside West District Forty-Eight."

* * *

"Matsumoto, do I really have to go over this again?" Hitsugaya's voice was dry, and carefully emotionless, though he would have liked little better than to just yell. But yelling was childish and therefore beneath him. So he stuck with the cold tone, and pointed to the office couch. "That is not here so that you can nap on it during work hours. It is also not here as a place that you can hide your undone paperwork."

He watched with growing agitation as Matsumoto pouted, and flopped dramatically onto the couch. What the hell was that kind of behaviour for? He was trying to explain responsibility, and she clearly was not taking him seriously at all. A vein in his forehead twitched, and one hand clenched into a fist. No yelling.

"Well what's it here for then? Just to take up space?"

No running a hand down his face, either. That just wasn't dignified. And he was a dignified captain, damn it. He would make everyone see that, someday. For the time being, his short tenure seemed to make it difficult for a lot of people to take him seriously. But Matsumoto of all people should have known better. And yet here she was, in a constant state of insubordination.

Hitsugaya would have outlined -- again – that the couch was for the comfort of guests rather than the vice-captain's personal napping spot, but he was saved by the sound of a knock on the door and the announcement of an urgent report. A quick glance in Matsumoto's direction showed that she had gotten to her feet, looking every bit as attentive as someone of her rank should be. Why couldn't she do that all the time?

"Then don't just stand out there. Come in and report," he said tersely, forgetting to smooth out his tone. It wasn't Miyamoto that had worked him into this state of annoyance, after all. Hitsugaya always tried to keep his emotions directed toward the proper target. Not to say that he always succeeded, but the effort counted for something in his mind.

He heard Matsumoto make a reproachful noise at the sharpness in his voice. Well, it was her fault in the first place for upsetting him. He ignored the chiding. She didn't have the right to do that anymore; he was her commanding officer now. One day, he would get it through her head that such a thing meant that she had to listen to him. It wasn't a difficult concept.

Miyamoto slid the door open, warily glancing between him and Matsumoto. Had he heard them arguing? Oh, that would just be wonderful. The division did not need to see its commanders unable to get along; that could cause chaos, especially since his promotion was not widely accepted among the lesser ranks. Further proof that a child should not have been put in command, they would say. Idiots.

After swallowing, Miyamoto finally found it in himself to speak. "Sir. The patrolling squad encountered some danger, most likely in the form of one or more Hollows, but we are unable to determine the exact cause at this point. Casualties are heavy, and those that survived are in no state to relay information."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. What the hell? Similar things had been happening to other squads in other divisions for the past few weeks, but he'd put that off to inattentiveness or poor training. He knew his squads, though. They stayed alert while on assignment, and he'd overseen much of their training himself. No, a squad of his would not have been caught unprepared. This bore investigation.

"No one can even talk?" Matsumoto broke in, folding her arms beneath her chest. An unnaturally serious expression came over her usually too-cheerful features. "Whatever is out there must have done a number on them."

Privately, Hitsugaya agreed, but he gave her no acknowledgement, keeping his attention firmly on Miyamoto. "What were the exact co-ordinates of this disturbance?" He set his jaw; whatever had taken out any of his subordinates was going to find itself on the wrong side of his zanpakutou.

Miyamoto swallowed nervously. "That much, I do not know, Hitsugaya-taichou. I got the report when I was at the Fourth checking in on a couple of my people. Someone got a Hell Butterfly to the Fourth before being injured or killed, so they were the first on the scene."

"Meaning that they will have the most accurate information." So, it looked as though a visit to the Fourth was in order. He had been planning to go anyway, to assess the damage for himself, but any other information he could glean was more than welcome. He nodded stiffly. "You are dismissed, Miyamoto. Return to your squad. I will handle things from here."

"I think you mean 'we', Toushirou-kun," Matsumoto piped up suddenly. She bent to retrieve her zanpakutou from the side of the couch – she claimed it was impossible to nap properly while wearing it – and secured it at her hip.

Hitsugaya barely noticed Miyamoto give a hurried bow and flee before turning to glare at Matsumoto. How dare she correct him in front of a subordinate? And that was certainly no way to address her captain. He pitied anyone who had been her superior officer in the past; trying to keep her in line was very much akin to bashing one's head against the wall. One would think that she could show a little more respect to someone she considered a friend.

"Matsumoto. You are not to address me that way. I never liked it before, and it's even more inappropriate now." His eyes narrowed, and his voice sharpened. "And what the hell was with correcting me in front of Miyamoto? I don't need you undermining my authority."

Matsumoto blinked at him, and then her face hardened. "I don't see what's wrong with talking to you like a friend. And this incident concerns me as much as it does you. I'm not gonna let you go off alone against whatever did this."

He scoffed, turned on his heel, and stepped toward the door. Glaring at her never did any good, anyway. The woman just did whatever she pleased, whenever she pleased. "I don't need a nanny."

"No, but you do need a vice-captain. It's why we're here, you know."

Hitsugaya halted, grinding his teeth. She just had to bring that up, didn't she? He was quite capable of handling whatever was going on without her help. But captains were supposed to work in tandem with their vice captains. He sighed in resignation; he'd never been good at teamwork, but it looked as though he was going to have to try. Lucky him.

"Fine. Then come on." Oh, how he hated giving in. And yet he seemed to do it so often when it came to Matsumoto. Maybe he was just trying to avoid the whining that would come if he kept on refusing her whims. "Send a Hell Butterfly on ahead to Unohana-taichou, letting her know that we're coming and the purpose of our visit."

At this, Matsumoto breezed past him, cheeky smile firmly in place. What the hell was that for?

"Already done, Toushirou-kun," she said airily. "I had plenty of time to send one off while you were standing there fuming at me. You'd better come along; a lady doesn't appreciate being kept waiting."

For a moment, Hitsugaya just stood there, eyes wide with indignation. She hadn't even been paying attention to him. And she'd acted as though he had already given his consent before it had even happened. That woman . . . No. There was no time for that right now.

And so he hurried to catch up with Matsumoto, seething silently that he had to walk so quickly to catch up to her normal pace. One of these days, he'd be tall enough that this would not be an issue, but for now he had to deal with it. He took up position in front of her, since a captain should always be two steps ahead of his vice-captain, and gave her a cutting glance out of the corner of his eye.

"I thought I told you not to call me that."

* * *

Matsumoto sat straight-backed in a chair in the Fourth's waiting room. She didn't even bother to conceal the rolling of her eyes at Toushirou, who was standing ramrod-straight with his small arms crossed impatiently over his chest. Just because it was a serious situation didn't mean that he couldn't sit down. He obviously knew nothing of such things, and she found that rather sad. Children should not be so grim.

"You know, Toushi . . . I mean, Captain," she corrected herself. Having known him for so long, having met him as an untrained and somewhat frightened child, she found it very difficult to refer to him by his title. Why was that so important, anyway? "You can take a bit of a load off; I wouldn't think any less of you for it."

The tightening of his jaw was the only indication that he had heard her. Not talking now, was he? That certainly wouldn't do. It was as though he had no idea of how a captain and vice-captain were supposed to get along together. Then again, Toushirou had come from the Thirteenth, where there was no one of her rank. Well, she would simply have to teach him how things worked, whether he wanted to learn or not.

Matsumoto opened her mouth to reply to him, but before she could form a sound, the dainty, graceful form of Unohana Retsu appeared in the doorway. The chastising would have to wait for a more appropriate time. Nobody sane tried to speak over the Fourth's captain, and despite all of Toushirou's claims to the contrary, Matsumoto was not crazy. She would wait her turn.

Toushirou inclined his head toward the new arrival. "Unohana-taichou."

Matsumoto hurried to her feet and gave a shallow bow. She could behave properly when she wished, of course; it just wasn't any fun to do so. And unless she had a very good reason not to, she wanted to have fun as often as possible. What was wrong with that? The way Toushirou acted, one might have thought it was a crime. All of her efforts to loosen him up thus far had failed miserably.

"Hitsugaya-taichou. Matsumoto-fukutaichou," Unohana greeted, her own bow unhurried and elegant. "If you would come with me? I think that this matter is best discussed in private."

"Of course."

Matsumoto fell into step behind Toushirou as he followed, keeping her features stern and her eyes ahead. She would rather not think of how any of their division members had wound up in intensive care, even though she could not avoid it now that she was here. But that hardly meant that she had to see it. If she were asked if she wanted to, though, she was not certain that she would refuse. So many contradicting thoughts ran through her head that she decided that she wasn't up to dealing with them right now. Just go with instinct if the question came, and worry about any possible consequences later.

As expected, Unohana-taichou's office was spotless and organized – Matsumoto simply did not understand how anyone had the patience for that kind of dreadfully boring thing – the scent of fresh-cut and masterfully arranged flowers adding a subtle liveliness to the room. When motioned to take a seat, Matsumoto did so, noting with some satisfaction that Toushirou followed suit. Well at least he listened to someone telling him to sit down, even if it wasn't her.

Unohana took a seat behind her desk, and folded her hands calmly in front of her. "I assume you wish to know the condition of your subordinates?"

"We'd be grateful for anything that you can tell us," Matsumoto broke in. Technically, she should have let Toushirou speak, but the lead-in question had clearly annoyed him on some level, and she didn't want him saying anything that might get him on the bad side of Unohana. He was supposed to be smarter than that. That his scowl turned in her direction was not something that bothered her.

"Matsumoto . . ."

She pouted. He was going to scold her when she was just trying to help him out? Typical. "Why does it matter which one of us talks? We both want to know the same thing, don't we?"

Toushirou's features darkened slightly. "It's not your place to –"

"Pardon me," came Unohana's even tones, and Matsumoto noted with some apprehension that there was an innocent smile on the older woman's face. "But if the two of you have a dispute to settle, could you please do so on your own time? I would think that we are here to discuss matters more important than superior and subordinate etiquette. Or has that changed in the past few moments?"

Toushirou clenched his jaw at these words in a clear effort to bring his temper back into line. For her part, Matsumoto swallowed a bit nervously. Scary stuff. How did Unohana do that without doing . . . well, anything? At least when people were afraid of Gin's smiles, she knew why.

"My apologies, Unohana-taichou," Toushirou said at last. He gave Matsumoto a pointed look before continuing. "There will be no more interruptions. What can you tell us about the state of our division members?"

Unohana eyed the both of them measuringly, as though trying to discern whether there would be any more foolishness enacted in her presence. And yet that measuring look was not nearly so frightening as the smile, somehow. Weird.

At last, Unohana nodded, and glanced toward an open file on her desk that Matsumoto had not noticed earlier. Of course, she was an expert at not seeing files; if she didn't see them, then she didn't have to work on them.

"Regrettably, six were found dead at the scene, and another two perished on route to the Fourth." The scariness was completely gone from her eyes now, replaced with genuine sorrow. "I will have a copy of the list of the deceased sent to your offices so that you may decide on proper arrangements for them."

Eight dead. That would have been more than half the patrol. What could take out so many shinigami so quickly without being sensed? A Hollow with that level of reiatsu would have stood out plainly to just about any officer. What went wrong this time?

Toushirou beat her to the punch. "Eight out of a dozen were killed? What about the other four?"

Unohana closed the file folder before speaking. "I do not know if you are aware of the condition of others who have been brought in as of late, but yours are the same. They appear to be comatose, though not in any manner of it that I have yet seen. I am still in the process of diagnosing the condition."

Matsumoto had heard the stories, preferring to put them off as the drunken ramblings of those around her. She hadn't wanted something so disturbing to be true, but perhaps it was. And since that was the case, that meant that something needed to be done about it before this happened again.

"Can we see them?"

She was surprised to hear the question roll off her tongue when she had only moments ago not wanted to look. But it popped out without conscious thought, and she did tell herself that she would go with whatever instinct prompted her when the time came. The desire to check on her subordinates won out in the end. And if she were given permission, she would avail herself of it regardless of whether Toushirou thought it was a good idea. She honestly didn't know what he would say in this case.

To her dismay, Unohana shook her head. "I apologize, Matsumoto-fukutaichou, but I am afraid I must decline this request. They are in intensive care and it is imperative that the staff be able to attend to them without distraction. Should their condition improve, I will contact you."

Matsumoto deflated. She understood, of course, and she didn't want to interfere with any of their treatment. That didn't mean the refusal didn't sting. There were good people in there, and she couldn't even so much as try to cheer them up. Life really wasn't fair sometimes. For her or for others, it seemed.

"My third seat mentioned that you have the exact co-ordinates of the encounter," Toushirou said. Well, he certainly wasn't wasting any time, was he? "I need those in order to continue the investigation."

Without even looking at the folder, Unohana slid a sheet of paper out from it and handed that paper to Toushirou. "They are here. Please do not feel slighted by my next statement, Hitsugaya-taichou; it is not a commentary on your abilities. Be cautious in this investigation. I would hate to see either of you in a similar state."

Toushirou's jaw clenched again. No matter what Unohana had asked of him, he very obviously did feel slighted by her concern. In spite of the situation, Matsumoto nearly swatted him upside the head for that. It wasn't a commentary on his age for Unohana to treat him as though he were her child; she treated almost everyone that way. And considering how old Unohana was, all but three other captains were truly children compared to her.

"Thank you for your concern, Unohana-taichou." Toushirou's voice was tight with restrained indignation, but he managed to get the words out. "We will allow you to return to you work. Come on, Matsumoto."

He didn't even wait for her before dramatically sweeping out of the room. Matsumoto sprang out of her chair to follow him, only to find him standing not far down the hall, affording her the chance to catch up. But when she did, she was rewarded with a glare. What in the world was he so mad at her for this time?

"I said I didn't need a nanny. Do you even listen to me when I talk?"

Matsumoto rolled her eyes. Oh, great. He was on this again. There was a huge difference between being a friend and being a mother hen. Couldn't he see that? She knew him; he should have known better than this. Was all that genius really just confined to the shinigami arts? The boy still had no people skills at all.

"Listening isn't the same thing as following everything to the letter," she said. "And where did you get this idea that I'm mothering you, anyway?"

"Yeah, I wonder where in hell I could've gotten that idea." Toushirou folded his arms over his chest. "I know how to behave in front of other captains. Her in particular. I don't need you trying to bail me out of some perceived trouble."

Matsumoto scowled right back, placing her hands on her hips. "Trying to help you doesn't mean I think you need to be babysat. Haven't you learned that in all the time we've been friends? You can help somebody without thinking you're above them, you know."

"I'm your commanding officer now! You can't just –" Toushirou broke off abruptly, noticing that the rising volume of his voice was drawing wary stares from the hospital staff. Huffing, he shoved the paper at her and spoke to her in a level tone. "These are the co-ordinates. Settle anything you need to settle, and meet me at the West Gate in an hour. Since there's obviously no convincing you to stay here, I might as well resign myself to the fact that you're coming. But if you're late, I'm not waiting for you."

A little storm cloud would not have been out of place over Toushirou's head as he stalked off without her. That was quite a little hissy fit he'd just thrown, even though Matsumoto was sure he would describe it as righteous anger. Hissy fits were for children after all, and he staunchly refused to accept the fact that he was indeed a child, even with all of his accomplishments. And contrary to his belief, there was really no shame in that.

She bent to pick up the sheet of paper, not even acknowledging that the male orderly passing by at that second got a quick view of her cleavage. People looked all the time. As long as they didn't stare too much, or try to touch, then she had absolutely no problem with it.

Matsumoto studied the co-ordinates for a moment. Not an area that she knew, then. Of course, whenever she went into Rukongai, she tended to stay in the populated areas. Since one couldn't very well shop or go bar-hopping in the middle of a forest or whatever, and all.

She folded the paper and tucked it securely into her obi before leaving the hospital herself. Just a thing or two to take care of, and she would be at the West Gate in plenty of time to help Toushirou.

No way was she letting him go alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**_In Spite of Appearances_**

**CHAPTER TWO**

Hitsugaya stood with his arms folded, eyes sweeping the landscape around him. He'd sent Matsumoto out on a perimeter search, which while valid, was really just an excuse to get rid of her for a while. Talked his ear off, that woman, even when out on assignment. They weren't the Second Division or anything, but stealth counted for something in Hitsugaya's view, and Matsumoto's incessant babbling didn't help matters in the least.

But she had raised no complaint when he ordered her onto the search, heading off in a blur of shunpo. That was the most annoying thing about her; she decided when and where she would be competent, as though that quality was something that should be turned on and off. If she could stay serious while on the job, he would not scold her so often.

She could be a layabout on her own time. Work time was his.

A breeze stirred his haori, and he frowned. Damn summer breezes never helped anything; they were always warm. What in the hell was the point in having a warm wind? Frankly, he could hardly wait until this self-imposed assignment was over, so that he could get back to the relative cool of Seireitei.

Hyourinmaru rumbled in his mind, an agreement to his thoughts. And also a suggestion to head closer to the lake that he could see in the near distance; it was always cooler near water. Hitsugaya was almost tempted, but he still had a job to do, here. Even his zanpakutou was trying to slack off today; that was very unlike him. Damn heat. That had to be what it was.

"Not now," he muttered under his breath, trying to bring his zanpakutou in line. Stupid dragon.

"What's not now?"

Hitsugaya blinked for a moment, hand going to his sword, before realizing that the voice was Matsumoto's. He'd been so distracted by his thoughts that he had failed to notice her return. That was unacceptable. But he could blame that on the heat too, right? Of course he could. Wasn't his fault he'd lost focus.

He shook his head. "Nevermind. Anything to report?"

"Nothing useful." Matsumoto shrugged. "I mean, there are some really pretty views around here, but I doubt you're interested in seeing those. Right, Toushirou-kun?"

Hitsugaya gritted his teeth at the term of address. How many times had he ordered her to stop calling him that? And yet she kept doing it. Just like Hinamori still called him Shirou-chan, though she was starting to do that a little less frequently. At least someone was making the effort to be a little more respectful, and it certainly wasn't Matsumoto.

But he let it go this time, simply because he didn't have the patience to be arguing about it right now. "No trace of any foreign reiatsu? Not even the slightest?"

"When I said 'nothing useful,' I meant it, you know." Matsumoto's face was mildly disapproving. "Why is it you question everything I do? You want me to work, and I'm working. Suddenly, that's not enough?"

"You and I tend to have differing opinions on what's useful," he said bitterly. "And if you acted like you knew what you were doing more often, maybe I wouldn't feel the need to question. You constantly question me; I am your superior, and this is not allowed." His eyes narrowed. "On the other hand, it is perfectly appropriate for me to question you."

A faint, humourless smile touched Matsumoto's lips, and she reached out to ruffle his hair a bit. "The world's not that black and white, Toushirou-kun. When you get a little older, you'll know better."

"Stop that," he said flatly, swatting her arm away. Stupid woman was distracting him. Well, no more. This argument was officially over. "Nothing left but an interior sweep, then. Stay behind me. I hope you're capable of at least that much."

He did not wait for her before launching into shunpo. Hell, if the teamwork thing failed now, then it was on her head, not his. He had at least made a token effort.

But Hitsugaya felt her reiatsu just behind him, and he gave her a grudging grunt of acknowledgement. It was entirely possible that he was not giving her enough credit, much as he loathed to admit such a thing. Some of their people had been killed out here. To assume she thought that this mission was nothing more than a game suddenly seemed quite unfair of him.

Well, that was just great. Matsumoto had gone and made him feel guilty.

He cast his senses about him as he moved, trying to hone in on any stray flickers of reiatsu that did not belong. When he continued to detect nothing, he frowned. Had the Hollow that had done this fled the area? Or was it just concealing itself somehow?

The first thought was frustrating, and the other one was downright disturbing – and more plausible, considering what had happened. Hollows did not typically conceal themselves all that well, either lacking the ability, or being too preoccupied with searching for their next meal. If this one was hiding itself, it was likely of fairly high level and very intelligent. The kind of Hollow that could easily take down squads of lesser shinigami. Perhaps even those of higher rank, should they be caught unawares.

Which was something that Hitsugaya would not allow to happen.

He slid smoothly out of shunpo, the world around him regaining its stillness, and Matsumoto did the same beside him. They stood near the bank of the lake now, the slightly cooler breeze rushing over them. Despite himself, Hitsugaya felt a flicker of satisfaction; that was better than earlier.

"I didn't sense a thing, Toushirou-kun. How about you?"

He didn't bother to scold her. "Not a thing. It just doesn't make sense."

"Maybe it moved on?" Matsumoto suggested, though her hand rested near her zanpakutou's hilt.

"Perhaps. Or it could be hiding itself. I think the latter more likely." Hitsugaya sighed, sharp eyes scanning the open plain for signs of anything that they might have missed. And yet he saw nothing, as though the world were mocking his attempts to get a handle on the situation. There simply had to be something here. Even bloodstains from the fallen shinigami were absent, now that he thought of it. There was no sign of a battle being fought. Could he and Matsumoto have been given the wrong co-ordinates, somehow?

He shook his head. No. The Fourth would have kept a proper record of where they had found the bodies. He and Matsumoto had the right place, for all that there were no visible signs of it. There was no mistake.

Which left him with the concealment theory, again. By the second, that was making more and more sense.

He drew Hyourinmaru, the sheath evaporating into the air as he did so. That Hollow was here. It had to be, and hell if he'd let it get the drop on him. "Draw your sword, Matsumoto."

The telltale swish of Haineko being drawn whispered in his ears. Good. He didn't seem to have to worry about his orders not being followed in the field. Now that he thought of it, this was really the first time they had been on an actual mission together. Most of their field work had been separate, leaving the office work as their usual interaction. If she were going to listen to him, he might deign to take her on field missions with him more often.

"Toushirou-kun? Do you think we might have missed it?"

Hitsugaya shook his head. "No. But I can't be sure. If we did, we need to make another sweep. If we didn't, then there's only one place that I can imagine it might be." He nodded toward the lake. "It's probably down there."

"In the lake?" Matsumoto blinked. She narrowed her eyes at the water, as though trying to pierce through its depths to see what rested at the bottom. "So some sort of sea-creature Hollow, then? It would have to be, if it's been under the water all this time without once coming up for air."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes, letting his senses skim along the waves. He was more in tune with water when it was in its frozen form, but he still felt a connection while it was liquid. If there were some sort of disturbance under there, he should be able to make it out more readily than anyone else.

His eyes shot open. There is was. The impression was faint, yet very distinctly that of a Hollow. Concealed definitely, if this was taking out full squads.

"Matsumoto. Stand back." That was all he said before he pointed two fingers in the direction of the disturbance, kidou gathering at his fingertips. "Hadou four: Byakurai!"

Lightning crackled from his fingertips and pierced through the surface of the water. And a split second later, a cry of pain and fury echoed from below the waves. Direct hit, and probably all the more painful since he had conducted the kidou through water.

A direct hit indeed, but not enough to keep the Hollow from fighting back. Hitsugaya leaped out of the way just before it broke the surface, a huge wave crashing over the shore. He executed a shunpo in midair so that he landed several metres away, on dry land. No way in hell he was either going to slip or get stuck in the mud. He would not be humiliated in such a fashion.

A compunction that Matsumoto didn't seem to share. Evidently, she hadn't gotten out of the way in time – and why in hell hadn't she? He'd given the stupid woman a warning – and while she seemed to have stood her ground against the wave, she was having trouble extricating her feet from the mud. Had Hitsugaya been any other male, he might have greatly appreciated the way that the water moulded the shihakushou against her body, and darkened her wavy hair.

But he was Hitsugaya. Thus all he saw was his idiot vice-captain who clearly had too slow of a reaction time. He would make her work on that after they got back.

A long arm suddenly reached out for her, and Hitsugaya flew forward to intercept the blow. But abruptly, he stumbled back as Matsumoto shot her sword out to block the attack herself, nearly slicing through his side in the process. Couldn't she tell that he was there? Focus on an enemy was important, but not to the exclusion of all else. Hitsugaya found it mind-boggling that she had not only survived, but ranked highly all this time if this was how she fought. Damn it, was he going to have to teach this woman everything? How much time did she think he had?

He would have very much liked to yell at her for nearly slicing him in half, but then he would have been ruining his own focus. And she would love to call him on that little discrepancy, too. Just because she knew he found such things annoying.

Matsumoto managed to push the Hollow back, something he would not have credited her with having the strength to do, considering the creature's size. Never mind the icy glares he gave to anyone who said that they were surprised that he could even hold his own sword in a basic guard position. It was a completely different situation. Really it was.

Hitsugaya took up that guard position now, testing his footing; if he kept it light, then he should not be hindered by the mud that was threatening to suck his feet deeper into the earth. Still. Fighting inside of a quagmire was hardly his ideal. This was disgusting.

He didn't bother to shout instructions at Matsumoto when the Hollow charged them again. She had quite clearly demonstrated that she did not need his assistance in these matters, and if it turned out that she did, he was going to be angry as hell at her for giving him the wrong impression.

So he just leaped to the side, thankfully out of the mud. Even so, some of the mud had stuck to the bottom of his sandals, and he slid a little on the landing. Not obvious to the naked eye, but he noticed it just fine, and it irked him. Something so simple as this should not have put him off balance at all; he had more co-ordination than that.

Well. He would just have to take that out on the Hollow, then. No better way to vent frustration than a little Hollow-slaying. He brought his sword back into a guard position, sizing up the creature. It was of impressive size, though extremely lean for being so big. Hitsugaya might have gone so far as to describe it as scrawny. The limbs were long and lean, the fingers and toes webbed together but still sporting claws. Even the head was fishlike, in the skeletal way Hollow masks were. Dead fish, really. The signature red glowing eyes were the only thing that gave its face any life.

And those eyes fixed on him suddenly, the Hollow evidently deciding that between Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, he was the more appetizing morsel. He didn't know whether to be pleased that it recognized his greater reiatsu, or insulted that it possibly thought he was an easier target. This Hollow didn't seem to be intelligent enough to speak, so he supposed he wouldn't know for certain. Not that it mattered.

He swung his blade out when the Hollow attacked, catching the claws before they could rake into him. From this position, he had a quite disgusting look down the creature's gullet; no doubt its intended destination for him. Like hell something of this level was going to so much as put a dent in him. Stupid Hollow.

"Little one. Little captain, is it? My, how delightful. No wonder your power smells so delicious."

Hitsugaya blinked. Well, hell. Looks like he had misjudged this thing's intelligence level. It was capable of conscious thought, and while that didn't actually mean that it was smart, it did mean that the Hollow could follow a logical thought process. He would have to take that into account.

Even so, he almost missed evading the other hand sent swiping at him, abruptly shoving the first away and rolling to the side. He sensed another blow coming, and he swung out his sword to intercept.

This time, the blade bit into flesh, and Hitsugaya was somewhat mollified by the shriek of pain that greeted his ears. With some effort, he yanked the sword out of the Hollow's body – had he the time to get his bearings he would have gone for the mask straight away – and put his free hand down in order to push himself to his feet.

Except that something suddenly latched onto the back of his haori, and he thought for a brief second that it was the Hollow. But the fact that he felt the world distort around him in a telltale sign of shunpo alerted him to what had truly just happened. Couldn't the damn woman just let him fight on his own? He was doing fine.

When the world came back into focus, they were at least a hundred yards from the Hollow. Hitsugaya was in no mood to be patient; he rammed the butt of Hyourinmaru's hilt into the wrist of Matsumoto's restraining hand. She was getting on his last nerve.

She yelped and let him go. "Toushirou-kun! What was that for?" She rubbed at her wrist as though it were actually in great pain. Please. He hadn't hit her that hard.

Hitsugaya landed in a deep knee bend, and rolled his eyes at her. "If you don't understand that, you're even stupider than you act. Did I say I needed your help, Matsumoto?"

"You never say when you need help," Matsumoto said in response. She stopped rubbing the wrist, and instead started shaking it out. "If I waited for that, you'd get yourself killed."

"Did it ever occur to you that I might not need help? I'm a captain, damn it!" Hitsugaya glared at her. She was just being too infuriating this time. "It may have escaped your notice, but I'm not that little brat you found in Rukongai, anymore! I know how to handle myself!"

Naturally, Matsumoto remained unintimidated by his temper. "Just because you're a captain, that doesn't mean you're invincible! And of course I notice that! You tell me often enough!"

"I keep telling you because you don't notice! If you did, I wouldn't have to say anything!" Honestly, that was hardly a leap of logic, here. She was just being an idiot again. On purpose, just to irritate him. There was no other explanation.

In the heat of the argument, Hitsugaya had forgotten that there was still a Hollow there for them to dispose of. Hyourinmaru roared in his mind just before his own senses kicked in, and he instinctively shoved Matsumoto to one side, while diving in the other himself. The ground between them split from the sheer force of the blow, spraying chunks of rock and dirt into the air.

Hitsugaya brought a hand up to shield his face, and gritted his teeth. Damn it. This was her fault again, being an idiot and working him up to the point where he lost focus. Was she trying to get them killed? Stupid woman. Another thing to lecture her about when they got back to Seireitei. The list just kept getting longer and longer.

"Oh, well done, little captain," the Hollow said in a surprisingly quiet voice, given its size. "It seemed for a moment that I had both you and your pretty mother, here."

Hitsugaya snarled. That Hollow was just asking for a more painful death, wasn't it? Calling him little again? Referring to Matsumoto as his mother? The latter was the most offensive of all. Even the Hollows made fun of his age, damn it all. Even the Hollows.

"Mother?" Matsumoto's voice rang out, and she sounded every bit as offended as he was. Well, at least they could agree on something. "Do you think I could still have a body this good after giving birth to him? And I'm not that old!"

The defense was a little uninspired, but at least Matsumoto didn't like the idea any better than he did. Hell, if anyone was the parent in their partnership, it was most certainly him. Backward as it might seem given their appearances.

"I was addressing the child. Not you." The Hollow actually sounded nonplussed. To top it off, it let out an exasperated sigh. "If you insist on interrupting my meal, I suppose you shall have to be first."

Hitsugaya let it move this time, figuring Matsumoto would block this attack as she had the first. And she did so, with some effort. That was good enough. Time to finish this thing off so that they could get back to Seireitei and have a serious chat about the way that she was treating him. They were going to need all night if their prior argument was any indication.

He adjusted his grip on his sword before blurring into a shunpo, coming out of it right above the Hollow's head. As long as Matsumoto kept the thing distracted, it would all be over in a mere few seconds. He poised his sword above the mask and started to bring it down for a clean slice.

Something slammed into his side, hard. He let out a grunt of pain, fingers reflexively tightening around Hyourinmaru's hilt to avoid having the jolt separate the two of them. Hitsugaya landed roughly, rolling a few times before he stopped. He immediately pushed himself onto his hands and knees, disgustedly spitting dirt out of his mouth. What in hell had just hit him?

He lifted his eyes back to the scene, Matsumoto evading strikes from each hand – one of which was bleeding, Hitsugaya noted. Must have been where he had scored a blow before Matsumoto's interference. But more importantly, the Hollow's tail lashed about as though it had a mind of its own. Well, that would explain what hit him, then. It was obvious that Matsumoto had not distracted it as well as he had assumed. One moment he underestimated her, and the next he ended up doing the complete opposite. Couldn't the woman be consistent? It would make his life a hell of a lot easier.

Then again, that was probably why she was all over the place to begin with.

Hitsugaya shook his head. He was getting bogged down by trivialities. Matsumoto was doing a good job at evasion, but it seemed that she needed some help in actually getting an offense going. Which was certainly no problem for him.

He approached more cautiously this time, mindful of the tail. Like hell he was getting caught off guard in such a fashion again. It should not have even happened in the first place.

The Hollow lashed out again, and this time, Matsumoto employed a different tactic. One that Hitsugaya took great care not to get into the path of. He was more powerful than she was, but that didn't mean that this wasn't dangerous.

"Growl, Haineko."

The blade of Matsumoto's sword dissolved into a cloud of ash, wrapping around her in a wildly spinning shield. When the Hollow tried to get through the barrier, it shrieked in pain and drew its hand back, blood dripping from countless tiny cuts. Both hands injured now. That would certainly work very well in their favour. The only real weapon that the Hollow had left was its tail.

It occurred to Hitsugaya to take the tail out first, but decided that it would just be a waste of time. So long as he was watchful, the tail was nothing to worry about. He made his move.

In the instant he slid out of his shunpo, he heard a disturbing cry pierce the air around him. Matsumoto. Somehow, the Hollow had gotten through the ash shield this time. Enough was enough. This battle was at an end.

Grimly, he brought his sword down onto the mask. The Hollow's shriek nearly deafened him, but the sound would fade along with its body. That was consolation enough.

Or it would have been, if the Hollow didn't grab him, sinking claws into his back, just as he pulled his sword out of the mask. Pain exploded through Hitsugaya's senses, flooding over nearly everything else. The only thing he could register outside of the sensation was that he had indeed finished off the Hollow. The body rapidly dissolved, waiting to take its proper form as a soul.

And with the body gone, there was nothing to hold Hitsugaya up. Limply, he fell to the ground. He was in no state to even try a proper landing and just flopped agonizingly onto his back. Damn, but that was painful. Maybe he should have tried to turn over and land on his face instead. Might have been easier on him after all.

He gasped through his pain a few times before his brain started working right again. Matsumoto. She was injured too, and he had no idea how badly. He could not just lie here before he knew she was relatively okay. Hell if he was going to crawl over to her, though. Talking was fine.

"Matsumoto?" It hurt to speak for some reason. He didn't know why; his chest and throat weren't injured. "Matsumoto. Are . . . you all right?"

For the first time, he heard shallow panting, and he wondered why it had only registered to him now. Perhaps he was too far gone for that unless he focused. Damn Hollow. It deserved worse than it got for doing something like this.

"I've been . . . better . . ." Her voice was no stronger than his. How in the hell had that Hollow gotten through her defense? "Toushirou-kun? You're . . ."

There was an inquisitive tone in the words, even though she had not managed to get all of them out. It was clear enough what she was asking, anyway. But there was that damn name again. Why did she have to keep calling him that? In a serious situation, she really should have been using his title. She just didn't understand anything.

Why did he keep her around, again?

"It's . . . not that . . . bad," he managed to choke out. And it wasn't. He could still talk. He could still move if he wanted to. Really. He just didn't want to right now. Never mind that he could still feel the blood leaking out from his back. Surely the cuts weren't that deep.

He heard a faint shuffling sound coming toward him, and he rolled his increasingly cloudy eyes over in the direction of that sound. Matsumoto was crawling over to him, one hand folded across her stomach. That was where it got her? Stupid woman shouldn't be moving like that. She was just going to make things worse. Obviously, he had to tell her everything.

"Stop that . . . moron . . ."

Why he had expected her to listen, he did not know; maybe he was too lightheaded. Whatever the case, she continued over to him, pained expression clear even to his blurry vision. She stopped a few feet away, folding over herself a little more, and took a ragged breath.

"The . . . hell it's not," she said. She fixed a bleary glare upon him. Impressive, considering her condition, though the one he gave her in return was surely more so.

"You never listen." He was surprised that he got a full sentence out before having to take in another sharp breath. Really, this speaking difficulty on his part made no sense. What had that Hollow really done to him? "Just shut up . . . and . . . and get in contact with the Fourth."

Matsumoto chuckled, and that chuckle turned into a cough. There might have been blood in that cough, too, but Hitsugaya couldn't see clearly enough to tell. And just what the hell was there to laugh about when the two of them were injured and bleeding like this? Matsumoto must be hysterical from blood loss. Yes, that made sense. Blood had rushed away from her brain and destroyed whatever wit she had.

"Can't do the first . . . if I'm . . . gonna do the second." This statement was voiced around the coughing. "Silly Toushirou-kun."

He didn't have then energy to glare anymore. Consciousness was fading fast, and he had to be out of it if Matsumoto was pointing out holes in his logic. That just didn't happen otherwise. There would be more glaring later. She deserved it.

Black spots danced around his vision, and sounds became even more muted. He couldn't tell if Matsumoto was following his orders or not. Hopefully, she had enough sense to do what he said this time. Failing that, she should have decided to do it on her own. She had to be a vice-captain for a reason, even if he wasn't seeing it.

That last, vague thought was his final one before drifting into blackness.


	3. Chapter 3

**_In Spite of Appearances_**

**CHAPTER THREE**

She'd overslept. Again.

Hinamori frantically finished with all the ties of her shihakushou, fingers fumbling over themselves a few times. All in all though, she thought she was being rather graceful about her rush this time – she was actually making progress instead of tripping over herself. She tucked Tobiume into her obi, and hurried out the door, nearly forgetting to shut it behind her.

She rushed through Seireitei's streets, wondering if maybe she should try to get one of those 'alarm clocks' that they had in the Living World, now. How she kept oversleeping like this, she did not know – though at least Aizen-taichou was patient with her – but she wanted to do something to remedy the situation. As a vice-captain, she really should be more responsible.

Fellow shinigami cast her some amused glances as she darted past them, a few no doubt accustomed to an early morning charge. Hinamori smiled back every time that she thought she could spare a split second, honestly not put out by all the staring. If she saw something like this going on, she would probably have stared, too. Maybe it wasn't polite, but it was natural. And surely no one meant any harm by it.

Her hurry intensified the closer she got to the Fifth Division's offices, leading her into shunpo. She really didn't want to be late, and if she didn't up the pace, then she would be. Aizen-taichou was extraordinarily tolerant of these episodes, but he shouldn't have to be. He deserved a responsible vice-captain who was able to make it to work on time without looking as though she had run headlong across half of Seireitei. Even if she had.

An unseated member of her division yelped and dropped the files he was carrying when she exited shunpo not far in front of the office. Oh. Well, that had been downright rude of her. That wouldn't do at all; now she was scaring her subordinates. It was just awful.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Let me help you!" Hinamori knelt down to help the man put his files back together. He was regarding her somewhat nervously, with a quick glance to the badge tied to her arm, so she gave him a cheery smile. "All my fault. Nothing for you to worry about, okay? There's no harm done."

The man smiled in relief at her words, and bowed quickly before taking his files in hand and heading off to wherever he needed to be. Hinamori smiled at his retreating back. What a nice fellow.

She took a moment to straighten her uniform and pat her hair down before going into the office. It wasn't primping, of course. She just wanted to look presentable as the vice-captain of the Fifth Division. Her public image reflected upon Aizen-taichou and she would feel horrible if she did anything to tarnish the Gotei's view of him. Besides, people took her more seriously when she looked nice and neat; she looked more like an officer that way, and less like a young girl waving around a sword.

And she would not enter until she was given permission. "Aizen-taichou?"

A response was not long in coming, in that smooth, kind voice. "You can come in, Hinamori-kun."

Eagerly, Hinamori did as she had been bidden, dropping into a deep bow after she entered. It was only proper, after all, to greet her captain in such a respectful fashion. To do less had never occurred to her.

Aizen-taichou chuckled warmly from the seat behind his desk. "Hinamori-kun, you need not do that. We are partners, and such deference is unnecessary. This office is as much yours as it is mine; I do hate to see you degrade yourself by asking for permission to enter."

Hinamori's cheeks flushed as she came out of her bow. Oh dear. What had she been thinking? Of course Aizen-taichou wouldn't stand on such formalities. How foolish she had been to have assumed otherwise. She would not allow such a thing to happen again.

"Oh, of course, sir! I'm sorry!"

She flushed deeper. Oh. She shouldn't have apologized, should she? He wasn't upset with her, and her only mistake was having been too formal with him. Apologizing for that didn't seem like it was going in the proper direction. Right? Well. Surely Aizen-taichou understood what she really meant. He always understood her.

Before she could get another word out, a Hell Butterfly floated through the window. On instinct, Hinamori delicately held up one hand, letting the tiny creature alight on her fingers. She smiled softly; she had always found the Hell Butterflies quite beautiful to look at, even if they didn't always carry good news.

And the news that this one shared with her did not fall under the label of good. Hinamori's smile faded into a concerned frown. Involuntarily, she wondered about the details, but she stopped herself. Those were not for her to know unless Aizen-taichou saw fit to tell her.

"Troubling news, Hinamori-kun?"

Hinamori looked up to see Aizen-taichou regarding her with worry in his dark eyes. She stood a little straighter, dismissing the Hell Butterfly so that she could relay the message herself. Whatever was wrong, Aizen-taichou would find a way to fix things. Of that, she had absolutely no doubt.

"Possibly, sir," she said in her best official voice. It was rather a nice official voice, in her opinion. "Yamamoto-soutaichou has called for an emergency meeting for all the captains. It's to start in half an hour."

"An emergency order?" Aizen-taichou's eyes widened, but then he nodded firmly. "Then I must go. My apologies, Hinamori-kun, for having to leave so soon after you've arrived."

Hinamori shook her head vigourously. "No apology needed, sir. It isn't your fault that there's some emergency."

Aizen-taichou glided over to her, smooth and graceful even in a casual stride. He placed an affectionate hand on her head for a few seconds. "I will be back as soon as I can. I know that I am leaving the division in capable hands."

Hinamori couldn't help the grin that came over her features at such praise. Surely most vice-captains had similar sentiments expressed about them – except that she'd never heard Hitsugaya-kun say anything of the sort to Rangiku-san – but she could not help but feel elated by it. Even though there were those out there that doubted she was fit for her rank, Aizen-taichou stood by her. And Hitsugaya-kun always glared at anyone who said anything mean, so he obviously thought that she belonged here, too.

Feeling somehow cheered, Hinamori set to work.

* * *

Aizen walked at an unhurried pace. The meeting was far enough away that he did not need to rush to get there on time. His mind ran through a list of possible topics for the meeting, one of them standing out above all others. He smiled softly. Perhaps the experiments were working out, if they had already caught Yamamoto-soutaichou's attention. Encouraging though this was, it could also end the experiments prematurely depending on how the situation would be handled.

And that would not do at all. Such promising results needed to be pursued, not curtailed. At worst, he might have to drive the operations even deeper underground. Regardless of what the Gotei would do, there was no need for panic. No need even for apprehension. He would assure that everything would work out in the end.

Various shinigami offered him polite bows as he passed, utterly unaware of the thoughts that were traveling through his mind. Such ignorance. At least it was convenient, just as he had planned. Any who had reason to suspect him of anything had long since fled Soul Society. And none would listen to them even if they were to speak up for some reason.

The First Division grounds were nothing of particular note in comparison to the others. All that made them stand out now were the powerful reiatsu signatures that were gathered in the grand hall. Strangely enough, he appeared to be the last one here, as far as his senses could tell.

Or perhaps not. He was perceptive, and though so many powerful reiatsu in close proximity tended to blend into each other, he was able to tell that there was someone missing from this meeting: Hitsugaya-taichou. The boy had not been a captain long, but Aizen knew him well enough both from his tenure so far, and from Hinamori's happy ramblings. It was unlike him to be late. Most curious, indeed.

Unobtrusively as ever, Aizen worked his way into the grand hall, slipping into his proper place between Gin and Komamura. He paid the former no mind, so as not to arouse suspicions, however minute that possibility might be. In all likelihood, Gin had come to the same conclusions as to the nature of this meeting as he had. Perhaps Tousen as well. Not that it mattered either way; all of them held up an impeccable façade in these matters and would do nothing that might betray their involvement.

The faces of the other captains gave no indication of anything unusual. Soifon was stiff and severe, as always. Unohana wore that same benign, yet somehow impassive smile. Kuchiki was straight-backed and stern, not even favouring his fellow captains with a glance. Kyouraku looked more than half asleep, though anyone observant enough could tell that this was not the case. And Kurotsuchi's face communicated annoyance from being pulled away from his studies in such a fashion.

Aizen could understand that last one, at least. Having one's research interrupted could be a most vexing thing, indeed. He had hopes that his own would not have to be curtailed over this.

Yamamoto lightly thumped the tip of his cane onto the floor. This was not unexpected; in fact, it had become somewhat of a standard for beginning a captains' meeting. Aizen had long found this amusing, in an odd sort of way. They were all powerful and highly respected shinigami, and such theatrics should have been unnecessary. Then again, some of the other captains could be such children at times that perhaps they needed to be jolted by a sudden sound in order to properly direct their attention.

Yes, quite amusing, in all.

"Now that we have all assembled, the meeting may begin." Yamamoto's gravelly voice echoed through the room without the need to be raised. There was a natural reverberation in it that seemed to allow the words to carry no matter what the circumstance.

All of them? Aizen blinked in genuine surprise. So Hitsugaya-taichou was not expected to attend, then. There were very few things that would make it permissible for a captain to miss any meeting: injury, grave illness, or disappearance. Thus one of these must have happened to the boy for him to be excused. Had he gotten himself in over his head? Should that be the case, Hinamori would be devastated; she was still too close to him.

Subtly prying good friends apart was delicate business, after all, and took a great deal of time. Aizen still had much to do on that front.

"Pardon my interruption, Yamamoto-soutaichou," came Ukitake's smooth voice from the back of the assembly. He was in a state of good health today, obviously. Ukitake had missed many meetings because of his chronic illness, and thus his attendance had always been hit-or-miss. "But you said that we are all assembled? Hitsugaya-taichou is not here."

Aizen kept the amusement out of his expression, carefully. Of course Ukitake would be concerned about the boy's absence. A scant few months ago, Hitsugaya had been one of his officers, and Ukitake cared far too deeply for his subordinates. The Shiba Kaien incident was clear evidence of that. Aizen himself was intrigued, but concern did not enter into the equation. This was a curiosity and nothing more.

"Hn." This was Zaraki, who took a second to look down at the spot that was traditionally occupied by the captain of the Tenth. "Wouldn't ya know it? Runt really isn't here. Hadn't noticed. He decide he's too good for this stuff, now?"

Soifon's lips tightened. "I assume he has a reason for this? Such behaviour is ill conduct for a captain. Perhaps the child does not understand his responsibilities."

"Enough," Yamamoto said sharply. "His absence will be made clear. In the meantime, we are not here on the issue of Hitsugaya-taichou's competence, for there is no issue to be taken with it." He eyed all of the captains sternly, and though those arguing made no more move to do so, neither of them qualied. Neither one was fearful by nature. "I am certain you are all aware of the high casualty rate we have been experiencing lately?"

Ah, yes. Aizen mused silently on this question. His latest Hollow experiments had been proving quite fruitful as of late; perhaps too fruitful. In any case, they were showing remarkable capability and endurance. Better than he had expected so soon, in fact. However, the connection that had been made to Hitsugaya was not lost on him. Interesting. He would not have thought that the Hollows were of nearly sufficient level to down a captain at this point. Even one as young and untested as Hitsugaya.

"Indeed." Aizen spoke up now, etching just the proper amount of worry and sympathy into his face and voice. "Many of us have lost entire squads in the past few months. Regrettable. But are you saying, Yamamoto-soutaichou, that Hitsugaya-taichou has fallen prey to the same creatures?"

"We do not know that for certain," Unohana said, her soft tones somehow carrying easily through the room. In spite of her petite frame and soft-spoken demeanour, the woman had a presence that filled whatever space she occupied. "But he and Matsumoto-fukutaichou met with me yesterday on this subject. A squad from the Tenth had been brought in with few surviving members. He inquired as to their condition and requested the co-ordinates from which the squad had sent its distress call so that he could investigate the matter himself. Neither he or Matsumoto-fukutaichou have been heard from since then."

Aizen folded his arms into the sleeves of his haori. Both of the Tenth's senior officers, then. That was certainly a surprise. The two of them together should certainly have been able to handle one of his experimental Hollows at this stage. Perhaps he should check in on them when he could find proper reason to get away. This was most peculiar; he would need to assure himself of the truth of the matter at the earliest opportunity.

"Well, now, ain't that just a shame? Poor little one's lost, is he? Guess someone's gonna hafta help him and Ran-chan find their way home."

He might have known that Gin would want to make some commentary on this matter. Gin did enjoy tormenting the boy, after all. Whether he was present or not. And as long as the mask did not slip, Aizen would say nothing about it. Nor would he have to bring him into line over Matsumoto, either. Aizen had no worries of Gin's loyalty to him, but the man sometimes seemed to maintain a little too much fondness for his old childhood friend.

"My, my, such concern over the whereabouts of a child," Kurotsuchi's lilting voice chimed in. Not even feigning worry over this. "If we truly want to understand what is happening, then we should study whatever Hollow it was that was able to best a captain. Am I the only one here with proper priorities? I am unsurprised."

This callousness was, it seemed, too much for Ukitake. "Hitsugaya-taichou is a captain, not a child. It is not inappropriate to prioritize his safety and the safety of Matsumoto-fukutaichou. Whatever this is can still be researched after we have retrieved them and ensured their health."

"And if there is nothing to find? Then that would be wasted time, would it not, Captain of the Thirteenth?" Kurotsuchi grinned, disturbingly as always. "I would rather be more productive than that, even if you would not."

"You cannot just assume that –"

"Kurotsuchi! Ukitake! Enough!" Yamamoto glowered from his seat, hands fixed tightly over the top of his cane. It was difficult to determine the man's expression beneath the thick, bushy facial hair, but Aizen could see that his eyes had narrowed. "The fate of a captain cannot be readily discounted, but Kurotsuchi's request for study does have merit. Personal politics must be put aside, and I will hear no more arguments here today."

The room fell silent at these words. Trust Yamamoto to make an impression upon nearly everyone in his presence. That he did so with harsh words and anger was rather uninspired, though, in Aizen's opinion. Outbursts like that were hardly necessary; even the old man did not seem to have learned that in all of his many centuries of life. How sad.

After some of the tension had bled away, Yamamoto spoke again. "Ukitake-taichou and Kurotsuchi-taichou are both correct. Kurotsuchi, you have permission to send out a research squad in order to find this Hollow, starting at the co-ordinates at which the Tenth's officers had gone to investigate. However," Yamamoto said with a pointed look in Kurotsuchi's direction, "your division is not highly combat oriented. The risk to them on their own is too great. I will only allow this mission on the condition that you work with a more combat-ready division."

Aizen frowned. An official sanction for the Twelfth to get ahold of his experimental Hollows? This was unacceptable. There was the possibility, however remote, that Kurotsuchi might be able to discover something that could be traced back to him. However, he had no logical reason for why the Twelfth should not be allowed to undertake this mission, else he would have voiced it already.

That left only one thing for him to do, and he had better do it quickly. Before the window of opportunity closed.

"I would volunteer the Fifth's services for this, Yamamoto-soutaichou," he said, no trace of his irritation slipping into his voice. "If this is acceptable to you? Should my people find Hitsugaya-taichou and Matsumoto-fukutaichou, I shall instruct them to contact the Fourth immediately."

Zaraki snorted in amusement. "Oh, come on, Aizen! The old man said combat-oriented. How often do your people even use their swords instead of throwin' that kidou shit around?"

"Ah, Zaraki-taichou," Aizen responded humbly. What an unthinking brute Zaraki was. Of course he would have wanted this assignment for his own division. "I know that my subordinates could be no match for yours when it comes to blades, but fighting at a distance might be safer against an opponent who can strike down a captain."

"I said that there would be no more arguments." Yamamoto's voice drew his attention back to the front of the room. "Aizen-taichou's point is well made, and I grant his request to involve the Fifth on this mission. Any further details will be worked out between Aizen-taichou and Kurotsuchi-taichou, but do so quickly. You are dismissed."

Zaraki huffed indignantly, but said nothing more. And for his part, Kurotsuchi looked almost as displeased. Doubtless he was rankled at the idea that his division needed to be babysat like some troublesome child.

Which it was, of course. Just not so much when it came to Yamamoto's interests as it did when it came to Aizen's. But those were the interests that counted.

The captains all filed out of the room, Aizen and Kurotsuchi last of all. Kurotsuchi cast him an angry glare over his shoulder, and he scarcely found the restraint to keep from smiling. Oh, but that expression was precious.

"Just make sure your people don't get in the way of mine," Kurotsuchi snapped. "I don't want any idiots botching things and damaging any possible research samples."

Aizen bowed his head respectfully, allowing the smile for a second while his features were hidden. "I can assure you, Kurotsuchi-taichou, that I will impart upon my people the importance of this mission. I understand the desire to have one's work be undisturbed by outside forces. My officers are competent and diligent; they will be well-suited for this task."

The Twelfth had to be stopped before they could possibly link anything back to him, and now he had the means to get that done without arousing any suspicions. All would still work out in the end.

It was time for him to talk with Hinamori.


	4. Chapter 4

**_In Spite of Appearances _**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Hitsugaya was facedown. He was sure that this was wrong, though he didn't know why. But he had the distinct impression that he should not have been lying on his face, and that there should not have been what felt like hands on his back, prodding at open wounds. That hurt, damn it. Whoever the idiot was that was doing that, he could stop now. As in immediately.

He opened his mouth to speak, to order the idiot away from him, but no words would come out. Perfect. Now he would just have to lie here and endure this for however long the person touching him decided to keep up the torture. That, or until he passed out again. He wasn't really sure that he even cared at this point.

But then a new sensation came over him. A warm one, faintly tugging at the skin of his back. Some part of him relaxed at this feeling, for he knew what it was. Very few shinigami had not felt the warmth of healing kidou before. Matsumoto must have been able to get ahold of someone from the Fourth, just as he had ordered.

His eyes flew open at that thought. Matsumoto. She'd been injured, too. Had they taken care of her already? What kind of condition was she in? He had to know if she was all right or not.

Anyone who would have taken that as friendly concern would have been mistaken, of course. It was hardly that. Just a captain wondering over the status of his vice-captain after sustaining an injury. It was his right as her commanding officer to know her condition, and that was that.

The warmth on his back faded, and with it much of the pain that he had been experiencing earlier. Instantly, he shoved the person off of him and sat up, rubbing absently at his bare back. Right. They would have had to remove the upper part of his uniform in order to heal him. That was fine. And he tried to tell himself that it was fine if they had to do that to Matsumoto, too. The Fourth was comprised of medical professionals, after all. They were trustworthy.

They had better be, or he would give them hell. Just a captain protecting his vice-captain's dignity, of course. Not a friend.

"Sir, I'm not sure that it's a good idea for –"

"Where is Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya leveled a glare on the man who had been treating him, in no mood for delays. "I don't want to hear a word of anything else until I know."

The man blinked, gaze periodically darting away from him. At another point in time, Hitsugaya might have been pleased by this; someone he frightened was someone who took him seriously. But right now, he was serious. He wanted to know Matsumoto's whereabouts and condition, and this man was going to tell him in the next ten seconds or else he wouldn't have a voice box left at all. His expression clearly communicated that much.

The man fidgeted, his mouth working a bit before any sound came out. "If you could just calm down sir, I can explain . . ."

Okay, that was it. Time was up. The bastard hadn't coughed up what he wanted to know and Hitsugaya was in a very bad mood as it was. Thwarting him on such an important issue didn't help. One hand twitched, ready to make the necessary move, but a new voice stopped him.

"Aw, I didn't realize you cared that much, Toushirou-kun!" Matsumoto stood a few feet away from him, looking a little pale and slightly hunched over, but otherwise not much worse for the wear. She had been treated first, then. Good. "I'd hug you, but my ribs still hurt something awful!"

Was it terrible that a part of him was thankful for that? Hell if he wasn't furious that she had been hurt in the first place, but having her not hug him was generally classified as a very good thing. He couldn't breathe when she hugged him like that, and without a doubt she knew it. Damn woman tried to suffocate him, bit by bit, just for her own amusement. It was a demented little game of hers.

But at least she was safe.

"That would not have been necessary." That was all he said in response to her presence. No greeting. No inquiry as to how she was feeling – she had pretty much provided that information, anyway. Just commentary on the proper way to treat him. He turned his attention back to the healer, who looked notably relieved that Hitsugaya had gotten what he wanted. "Name."

The man knelt properly, bowing his head in the required obeisance. "Nakahara Ryou, sir. Nineteenth seat of the Fourth." He stopped here, picking up the upper parts of Hitsugaya's uniform and handing them over without hesitation. "Here you are, Hitsugaya-taichou. Just . . . please be careful. I've done what I can for your injuries, but they are still rather vulnerable."

Hitsugaya grunted in acknowledgement as he took the clothing from Nakahara. Yes, yes. Be careful and all that. He had heard it before – what shinigami hadn't? – and it scarcely even registered in his mind. He stood, diligently working with his shihakushou to get it on, being mindful of the soreness that remained in his back. Damn it; he would have thought one of the Fourth's officers, even a low-ranked one, should have been able to do a more thorough job on their wounds than this. Maybe Nakahara was just new at the officer rank.

"Need any help, Toushirou-kun?"

Hitsugaya scowled in Matsumoto's direction. "I know how to dress myself, thanks." He pointedly refused to acknowledge that Matsumoto's face was completely serious, and not in the least bit amused. Which meant that she was not making some ill-advised crack about his age in front of an officer of another division. He didn't want to see it that way, if for no other reason than that would have meant that he was just unnecessarily harsh in his response. And all his harshness was necessary, of course.

Matsumoto sighed angrily and stepped over to him, anyway. Her face was a little pinched from the pain that she was in, but only a careful study of her features would have revealed it. "You know that's not what I meant. You're just trying to be difficult."

Hitsugaya snorted, casually sliding his arms into his haori. The now-familiar weight of the white cloth on his back calmed him a bit. He was still here, and he was still a captain. But then his eyes narrowed, realizing that something was still missing. Something vitally important. He shot looks between Matsumoto and Nakahara. One of them, at the very least, should know. And if not . . . That was something that he would rather not think about.

"Where is Hyourinmaru?" His voice was low and tense, but he managed to avoid having it sound like a growl. It would have been counterproductive for him to scare Nakahara witless before he could even answer.

As it was, Nakahara seemed to have frozen in fear, anyway. Well, that was useless. Matsumoto had better be more forthcoming, even if it was just to say that she had no idea. Even that would be more helpful than Nakahara was being.

Matsumoto rolled her eyes. "You don't have to get so angry over everything." She walked past him, behind the stock-still Nakahara – really, how long was the fool going to stay like that? – and bent down into the grass to pick something up. When she rose, this thing proved to be none other than Hyourinmaru, completely undamaged, blade shining keenly in the fading daylight. Matsumoto carried the sword to him with a sort of reverence, holding it across both palms for him to take. "I kept Nakahara-san from touching it, since I knew you'd be picky about that."

Pausing, Hitsugaya blinked at her words. That last bit could have been taken as a barb, but he could tell that Matsumoto had not meant it that way. She had been being mindful of his wishes, knew what they were without having to be told. He could appreciate that much, he supposed. Every once in a while, Matsumoto tended to surprise him like that. It was rather pleasant, actually. Although he wished that it wasn't a surprise. Or just once in a while.

"Thank you," he said, taking Hyourinmaru from her hands. He owed her that much, at the very least. He moved to put the sword on his back, mind willing the sheath to form once again out of water vapour. There. He was complete again. His eyes turned back to Nakahara, still unmoving, and he folded his arms across his chest. This was ridiculous. "Practicing to become a statue, Nakahara?"

Nakahara blinked at this, then sheepishly climbed to his feet. He rubbed nervously at the back of his neck before answering. "No. No, sir. My apologies; I did not mean to offend."

"Oh, don't mind him," Matsumoto piped in. "He's just a little grouch who takes things too seriously. I'm sure he doesn't mean to be rude, even though he didn't even thank you for healing us, or anything."

Hitsugaya ground his teeth at the surreptitious look Matsumoto gave him with her last statement. And here she had hated being referred to as his mother; she was certainly trying to act like that now, which was very much not appreciated. It was not her job to moderate his conduct, even if there had been something about it that needed to be moderated. Which there wasn't. He dealt with people just fine, regardless of what Matsumoto seemed to think.

How he wished that changed the fact that the damn woman had a point.

He rolled his eyes. Fine. "Thank you, Nakahara, for doing your job." The final bit was sent more in Matsumoto's direction than Nakahara's, and he knew that she would get the point of that one. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he knew that Matsumoto was not that dense.

That settled, he finally took the time to examine his surroundings. Oddly enough, they were not housed in the Fourth's hospital. He might have thought that they were treated on scene instead, save for the fact that there was no lake nearby – just a grassy plain with periodic rocky outcroppings. What the hell? What kind of trick was this? Something was wrong, and he went to what he deemed to be the first possible source.

"Nakahara. What's going on?" he asked sharply. In that second, he remembered the man's previous behaviour at his irritation, and added, "Don't you dare freeze on me this time."

Nakahara paled, and fidgeted again, but to his credit did not seize up this time. "I . . . I'm not sure I understand what you mean, sir. This is . . ."

"Not the Fourth, nor is it where Matsumoto and I were injured," Hitsugaya finished for him. Did the man really know nothing, or was he just playing at ignorance? He eyed Nakahara carefully, taking in his pallour and his shaking hands. No, this was no lie he had told. Whatever had moved them here, Nakahara had nothing to do with it.

"It's . . . not?" Nakahara sounded completely baffled. "But I found the both of you here, wounded and unconscious. It doesn't make sense that something would move you to the middle of nowhere and just leave you. Are you sure that –"

His scowl deepened. "Are you questioning my observational skills?"

Matsumoto stepped between them, forcing Hitsugaya to look up in order to avoid getting an eyeful that he did not want. One of these days, he was going to be able to look the woman in the eye without craning his neck. As it was, those eyes were full of cheerful impatience – however the hell that was supposed to work, but that was what it was – and her lips were set firmly, though they did twitch a bit, as though she were trying to keep from smiling.

"Boys, boys, let's not argue!" She turned and gave Nakahara a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Sorry about that; he's just being cranky. But it's true, you know. We were fighting near a lake, and . . ." Here, she swept a hand out to indicate the surrounding landscape. "There doesn't seem to be one in sight. It's just strange. That's all."

Hitsugaya snorted when Nakahara seemed to relax a bit at those words; colour had returned to the man's face, though his hands still shook. Really, had Hitsugaya not communicated that very same thing a moment ago? He didn't need Matsumoto to repeat his own questions, couched in softer language. There was no point in saying the same thing twice.

"Oh," Nakahara said, taking a moment to push a strand of short dark hair out of his eyes. Yes, he certainly looked more relaxed now. "Well, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can tell you about that."

"Really? You don't have a clue?" Matsumoto looked well and truly baffled now, and Hitsugaya could not find it in himself to blame her. This whole situation just made no damn sense at all.

Nakahara shook his head. "I am afraid not, Matsumoto-fukutaichou. But perhaps one of the others might, if we head back to base."

Hitsugaya blinked. "Base? Others? Mind explaining that before we go anywhere with you?"

He was not entirely convinced that this was not a trap of some sort. Everything felt too wrong, and Nakahara wasn't giving straight answers. Not in Hitsugaya's view, anyway, and that was what mattered. He hated to think that he could not trust another shinigami, but not everyone was trustworthy, and he had never met this man before. But for now, the situation was stable, and he would not yet pass judgement on Nakahara's intentions. A chance to regroup was one that should be taken.

"Well, sir, there have been quite a few others that have ended up here in some fashion." Nakahara stood straight-backed and proud, like a proper officer when he spoke. Matsumoto's gentleness must have coaxed that out of him. "All from various divisions, even another officer or two. I . . . can't say exactly. For that, you might need to talk to Okada-san; he's already got a better handle on who's who than I do."

Hitsugaya was about to answer, but when he heard that name, he stopped, stunned. "Okada?"

That was too much of a co-incidence. This man had just spoken out the name of Hitsugaya's Tenth Seat, and there was no reason for him to have known it beforehand. If he hadn't planned to go to this base earlier, he certainly intended to now.

"I see. Lead the way, then. Immediately."

Nakahara bowed wordlessly before jogging ahead. For a second, Hitsugaya felt slighted by the lack of shunpo – he could do quite a good job at it, in case anyone wondered – but then remembered the man's rank. Officers that low typically couldn't shunpo, and clearly Nakahara was no exception.

He nodded to himself when Matsumoto pulled up beside him, but made no effort to move ahead. Good to see that she could respect protocol occasionally. Besides, they needed to have a word or two anyway.

"So we're going to see Okada, hmm?" Matsumoto said lightly, an undisguised note of teasing in her voice. Just fantastic. Really. "You sure you're up to that? You know how much he upsets you; I wouldn't want you to get overly stressed."

In all honesty, Hitsugaya was not exactly sure that he wanted to deal with Okada right now. Or ever, really. The man was a nuisance who held absolutely no respect for his station. Hell, the idiot had laughed at him the day he took over the division. Speaking with him was never a pleasant prospect.

But he had no choice.

"I can handle Okada," he snapped. He didn't want to, but he could. "And I have to, anyway. Don't you realize the significance of his being here, Matsumoto? This is something that you should have noticed."

Matsumoto blinked, clearly not getting it. "Why should I be aware of something like this? That's not my job."

Grinding his teeth, Hitsugaya forced himself to calm down, just a little. Wasn't part of her job? What the hell did she think her job was? "I suppose it's too much to ask for you to keep track of mission assignments. But if you had done so as required, I wouldn't have to be explaining this to you right now."

He didn't know why he bothered. He really didn't. Even after a scant few months, Hitsugaya had come to realize the near-futility of getting Matsumoto to do anything resembling work. In the office, at least. She seemed to handle herself well enough in the field, the last encounter notwithstanding. But paperwork? Might as well do it all himself. At least people would be able to read it that way.

"Okada was in charge of the squad that was just brought back into the Fourth."

* * *

Aizen sat under a tree, enjoying the fine weather as he paged through a thick book. That was not his true purpose for being here, of course, but it served very well as cover. Keeping the meeting casual, even though it was completely business related, would catch his incoming companion off guard, and fluster her more than usual. It was best to keep her off balance, if for no other reason than it amused him. He always wanted to laugh when Hinamori blushed and stammered, all the while striving to be composed in his presence. More than once, he had even allowed himself to pat her on the head as though she were a puppy.

An easily deceived and eager to please puppy. It worked out very well for him. How convenient that he was able to find both her and Kira back in their earliest Academy days. They were both proving very useful thus far.

And Hinamori would shortly be given a chance to prove her usefulness to him again.

Aizen smiled as he felt her reiatsu approach. Right on time, as usual. Within a few moments, she would pass by this spot on her way back from conducting kidou drills. The girl might have trouble getting up on time in the morning, but she was punctual about everything else.

He could see her approach in the distance now, and he returned his eyes to his book. It would not do for it to appear as though he had been waiting for her. And with this façade, she would never think that it was anything but a chance meeting. Silly girl.

"Oh!"

At Hinamori's gasp, Aizen looked up as though surprised, but then guided his lips into a smile. It was not a false one, not entirely. The difference was that he needed it to convey warmth and not amusement. And that was easy enough, given how well-practiced he was at that particular task.

"Ah, Hinamori-kun. Such a pleasant surprise," he said smoothly. "What brings you by here on a fine day such as this?" As if he didn't know.

"Aizen-taichou!" Hinamori performed a quick – and unnecessary – bow. "I . . . I was just about to head back to my quarters to clean myself up after kidou drills. But if there's anything you need me to do, I'm sure that can wait."

He chuckled softly. "There is nothing so immediate as that. However," he paused here, his face turning more serious. "I do need to discuss something with you; it is rather fortunate that we met out here, in fact. Much preferable to delivering such news in a sterile environment like an office." He closed his book and patted the warm ground next to him. "Please sit."

The dismay on her face was truly a sight to behold. "Something's happened? Will everything be all right?" She hurried to sit in the spot that he had indicated, clearly too worried at the moment to fluster. "What is it?"

He kept the serious look on his face, even though he wanted to smile at her concerned babbling. "This may be difficult news for you to hear, Hinamori-kun, but I am glad that it is I who has the chance to tell you, rather than someone less sensitive. I hope that I can soften the blow, at the very least; I hate to see you hurt."

Hinamori's eyes became huge, and a frown tugged down on her lips. "It . . . it's personal . . . for me?"

"Regrettably, yes," he replied softly. "Given how close I know you are with Hitsugaya-taichou."

She gasped. "Hitsugaya-kun? Something's happened to him? Is he all right?"

Silly girl probably hadn't realized that she had pleadingly latched her hands onto his haori, silently begging him to make everything better. She was never aware of her actions around him, never aware of how obvious her infatuation with him was. Hinamori did not even know herself, much less him. If he cared for her any more than casually, he would have found that a pity.

Instead, it was far more of an amusement.

He patted her hand gently. "We cannot confirm his health at this point, I am afraid. Either positively or negatively. He and Matsumoto-fukutaichou were conducting an investigation into the loss of a squad, and have now turned up missing, themselves. No one has seen or heard from either of them since they left."

"Disappeared? Both of them? B-but . . ." Tears gathered in those too-wide eyes, but did not fall, and her hands clutched at him more tightly. "But what could do that to Hitsugaya-kun and Rangiku-san? You're going to help find them, aren't you, Aizen-taichou? You've got to find them!"

Such faith. And so misplaced, though she would likely not even know that when she died in a few years' time. But, he supposed, it was better for her that way. How cruel it would be to crush her perfect image of him.

He placed a comforting hand on her head. "They will be found. Already, orders have been issued, and Kurotsuchi-taichou has volunteered the Twelfth Division, though their involvement was only approved contingent upon the partnership with a more field-prepared division."

Hinamori blinked, eyes widening further in horror at the mention of Kurotsuchi. "The Twelfth shouldn't be involved in something like this! They'll just take Hitsugaya-kun and Rangiku-san and study them! That's not help! Aizen-taichou, we can't let them!"

"Hinamori-kun, lower your voice, please," he said calmly. "This is more the reason, I think, that another division was asked to assist. I do not relish asking you this, but I have volunteered the Fifth, and there is no one that I trust more than you." He looked away, as though overcome by a sudden disturbing thought. "The Hollows, too. Kurotsuchi-taichou would have them for study; he has expressed this interest directly. However . . ."

Aizen felt Hinamori's hands dislodge themselves from his haori, and he could imagine her face right now, drawn into a mixture of worry, horror, and determination. The perfect recipe for what he required of her. It was almost shameful how easy it was to play to her weaknesses.

"However . . . what?" she blurted. And then she gasped at her own response. "Oh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't be asking you anything you don't think I need to know. I accept the assignment regardless, Aizen-taichou."

He looked up at her as she spoke, eyes full of feigned indecision. Lowering his gaze for a second, he then brought his face back up with a more resolute expression. "No, Hinamori-kun. You had every right to ask. It is unseemly of me to question the motives of a fellow captain, but I am uncomfortable with how eager Kurotsuchi-taichou is to get ahold of these Hollows. Almost as though he has something untoward in mind."

"I don't think it's unseemly of you to worry over what Kurotsuchi-taichou wants." Hinamori's voice was firm, her face set sternly. "He might be skilled, but I agree with you that he can't be trusted. Don't the other captains understand that? He shouldn't be a captain at all!"

Far, far too easy. It was rather fortunate that Kurotsuchi was such an apt target for suspicion. The man had done little to endear himself personally to anyone in the Gotei, and had in fact demonstrated quite a bit of callousness both before and after his captaincy. That he was up to something that could endanger them all was no leap of the imagination.

"Hinamori-kun." Aizen was firm, yet gentle in his reprimand. "You must be more mindful of how you speak of a captain, regardless of your personal feelings toward him. Were anyone to hear you, it could result in harsh punishment, and I wish for no such fate to befall you. Especially since it would be my fault you were punished, for raising the matter in the first place."

Something in Hinamori's eyes still looked rebellious, though the girl did calm her ire. "You're right. It's not proper for me to talk about him that way. But that doesn't change the fact that it's how I feel."

Ah, there was that steel within her that seemed to get lost sometimes. While he needed her compliant, she was useless without that determination within her. Far better than smothering it, he instead gently guided it to be used toward his own ends. Aizen was not one who merely broke his pawns; a broken piece held no value. Using someone else's strength to help him achieve his goals was far more efficient than having to do everything himself.

He sighed in resignation. "I cannot fault you for thinking these things when I have thought them myself. But these are the orders, coming from Yamamoto-soutaichou himself. There is nothing I can do but obey, no matter what Kurotsuchi-taichou might have in mind. I hope that you can forgive me for thinking this way."

"You're not doing anything wrong," came Hinamori's gentle tones. Her face was downcast, but Aizen could see the calculation behind her eyes. She had found the opening he had left for her. "I'll take the assignment, as you have asked. I won't disappoint you, sir. Are there any further instructions?"

The smile Aizen allowed to grace his features was one of relief. Played to perfection, as always. "Thank you. I still need to finalize the details with Kurotsuchi-taichou, but I will inform you of those as soon as they are agreed upon. I do expect you will be working with his vice-captain on this venture, as he will leave little to chance. Beyond that, we shall both have to wait."

Hinamori nodded. "Yes, sir. Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"No. I have kept you too long as it is." Aizen shook his head. "I appreciate your indulging me, but you may return to your duties now. I expect that I will be contacting you again before long."

At this, Hinamori bowed before climbing to her feet and hurrying on her way to her quarters. Aizen watched her leave, her hair ribbons flying behind her, and her zanpakutou bouncing at her hip. Such an obedient pup.


	5. Chapter 5

_**In Spite of Appearances **_

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Hitsugaya didn't know whether or not he should bother to be unenthused about the base that Nakahara had mentioned. In actuality, it was little more than a cave, and using any other word to describe it seemed to dignify the location. It wasn't a base. It was a damned cave.

And to make matters worse, Okada was in there. He could feel the idiot's reiatsu. Perhaps he should just have Matsumoto deal with him, after all. People seemed to respond better to her.

She seemed to read his thoughts. "Are you sure you don't want me to talk to Okada for you? I'm really serious about that stress comment."

"I know how to talk to my own officers," he snapped. No matter what he had considered a second ago, he'd had no serious intent for Matsumoto to take hold of the conversation. It was his job to get ahold of this information. Not hers.

"Yes, you clearly do."

He growled softly. "Just let me handle him."

He would have responded to Matsumoto's smart remark as well, but the sound of a throat being cleared uncertainly stopped him. Glancing up, he saw Nakahara looking at the both of them nervously. Okay, Hitsugaya was not taking the blame for this one; Matsumoto was the one who just sassed her superior officer in public. The tense feeling around them was all her fault.

"Let's just get this over with," Hitsugaya said, taking the lead and entering the cave.

Though he had expected it to be dark inside, he was surprised for a moment to find it bright as day. Probably a modified and maintained kidou. It was rather good work, he would admit. He heard voices ahead of him, and followed that sound to navigate the various pathways. He frowned subtly, trying to pick out the voices of someone he knew, most likely Okada. That man had a hard time keeping his mouth shut.

And yet there was nothing familiar about the speakers he could hear; the only grounding he had was Matsumoto's steps behind his. Nakahara was there, too, but seeing as they'd just met, he didn't count for much. But in a new situation, Matsumoto's presence helped him maintain his footing. Hell if he'd ever tell her that, though.

At last, they reached the source of the voices, and all in the cavern looked up at their approach. A light murmur spread through the crowd, the word 'captain' featuring prominently. But Hitsugaya ignored it all, searching through the faces in order to find that of his Tenth Seat. Would be just like the idiot to hide from him, though.

"Captain!"

Or not. Hitsugaya recognized that voice, and the person that popped to his feet at the back of the crowd. So Okada had decided to make his presence known, had he? For once, that was a good thing; any other time, Hitsugaya would have wanted him to just stay out of his way. But if he could demand information from anyone, it would be from one of his own officers.

He folded his arms over his chest, and raised one eyebrow. "Okada. You will report to me immediately." He cast a glance around the cavern, some people still whispering, some staring wide-eyed, some trying to stifle laughter. "Privately," he added, his tone darkening. One idiot was more than enough to deal with.

Okada paled at this, green eyes widening. He darted an anxious glance around the cavern himself, as though searching for some sort of escape from the order. What did the idiot think he was going to do to him? Hitsugaya was hardly in the habit of harming his subordinates, but he didn't have time for this stupidity. He needed answers.

"Now, Okada." His voice was even firmer this time, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Okada snapped to attention at that. "Oh . . . yes, sir!" He hurried forward and moved past them, on a path to the cave entrance. And he would stop there, because even though he was a fool, he wasn't stupid enough to just run away from his own captain.

Matsumoto giggled. "Just try not to hurt him, okay Toushirou-kun?"

He just gave her a stern look before spinning on his heel and following Okada's reiatsu to the front of the cavern. Sure enough, the man was still just outside, leaning his back against the stone, hand idly on his zanpakutou's hilt. Hitsugaya didn't know the reason for that one; Okada would not raise a blade against one of his own, and there was no danger nearby that Hitsugaya could sense. Asking about it would be pointless, so he just tried to tell himself that Okada was keeping alert for danger, because that would be the sensible thing to do. Not that Okada could be trusted to be sensible.

"Well?" Hitsugaya prompted.

Okada jumped a little, then finally looked down at him. "Oh. Sorry about that, Captain; I didn't see you down there. Just . . . where do you want me to start? I'll level with you and say that I don't really understand that well what's going on, but I'll give it a shot."

Hitsugaya growled softly at the shot taken at his height. When were people going to quit making stupid commentary on that? He wasn't even that short. But even so, Okada's voice was quite a bit more subdued than what Hitsugaya had come to know as normal. Usually, the man was annoyingly cheerful to the point of being outright obnoxious. The short joke was commonplace, but it lacked the jovial tone that was usually behind it. Which could only mean that Okada was upset about something.

Well, that was his own problem. Hitsugaya was not about to pry into the affairs of somebody that he couldn't stand.

"Just tell me what you know, Okada," he said in exasperation. "Don't make me wait on this." And he didn't want to deal with the man any more than was strictly necessary. But there was no need to say that.

Okada just nodded, and he didn't even bother to add in some inane comment before he began his report. Another clear sign that something was bothering him. Too bad Okada couldn't be this well-behaved under normal circumstances. Would save Hitsugaya plenty of headaches, and Okada plenty of menial punishments.

"We were out as you requested," Okada began in a shockingly official tone. What the hell? "But we didn't see the Hollow coming until it was too late. In all honesty, sir, I'm not sure how any of us survived; I'm almost certain that we didn't kill it. I saw a few of us go down . . ."

Hitsugaya blinked at the flicker of pain in Okada's eyes. Was that what had sobered him so much? A failure to save his own subordinates? That required rather more credit than Hitsugaya was sure he could give him; he couldn't imagine Okada treating anyone with genuine respect. This report was nothing but an anomaly, but a well-timed and appreciated one.

Okada recovered after a moment. "Sorry about that. I just . . . you know." He sighed heavily. "Anyway, I woke up here after I went down; Nakahara had healed me. Sanada, Agano, and Hiyashi, too. Though I don't know what's happened to them now. I haven't seen them since yesterday."

Hitsugaya's brow wrinkled. This wasn't adding up at all. Hadn't Unohana said that the entire squad had been brought back? Eight dead and four in critical condition. If not outright saying it, she had certainly implied it. Something more than Okada's sombre attitude was wrong here. Something a lot more disturbing.

"And you never thought to come back to Seireitei?" Hitsugaya asked, expression suspicious. "Or at least establish contact? I thought even you were smart enough to follow these protocols in the event of a mission failure."

Okada blinked, and held his hands up in a gesture for peace. "Whoa, there, Captain. No need to take that kind of tone! And I do know how to follow mission protocols. I tried to do both of those things. Nothing worked. Can't get any kind of read on Seireitei, and something's really screwy, since I can't manage to summon up a Hell Butterfly. If you don't believe me on that one, sir, you're welcome to try it yourself."

In truth, Hitsugaya acknowledged that there probably wasn't any challenge in the last statement. But it sure as hell sounded like it, and that was beyond irritating. Not only was Okada trying to excuse his own incompetence – really, an officer unable to summon a Hell Butterfly? – but the idiot was implying that Hitsugaya shared it. He'd slap a punishment on Okada when they got back; he deserved it for such an egregious slight against his captain.

And he certainly did not appreciate being scolded by a middle-ranked officer. It was bad enough when Matsumoto did it. He scoffed, turned away from Okada, and lifted one hand in order to prove the irritating bastard wrong. He had to do everything around here. Why even bother having any subordinates?

But nothing came. He tried concentrating further, much more than what should have been necessary for such a simple task. Yet he still met with failure. There was a sudden pressure to the air around his hand when he exerted the effort to summon, like some instinctive shield barring the use of reiatsu. Another thing the list of things that made no damned sense.

When he turned back to Okada, he found the man's mouth curled into a vaguely satisfied smile. What the hell did he have to feel so smug about? "Care to explain to me what's going on? And get that stupid smile off your face."

Okada shrugged, but he did get rid of the smile. "I told you, Captain: I don't know why it doesn't work. It's not like I put up whatever barrier is in place against it. Odd thing is, kidou still works. Just . . . summoning Hell Butterflies doesn't. I have no idea how to explain it. I would if I could."

Hitsugaya smothered his doubts about that. He assumed that Okada must have some redeeming quality, somewhere, otherwise he would not have been an officer. Hell if Hitsugaya knew where to look, though. The second Okada screwed up legitimately, he was shipping him out of the Tenth. Shouldn't take long.

"Fine," he said at last. "Anything else to report, or can we return to the others, now?"

"No, sir. That's it." Okada shook his head. But then his face brightened, and he ruffled Hitsugaya's hair before heading back into the cavern. "See you inside, Captain!"

Hitsugaya stood wide-eyed with silent rage. Okada had ruffled his hair. The thrice-damned moron had ruffled his hair like he was some toddler. That was the normal Okada, the one hiding behind official tones and respectful modes of address. Normalcy was something to be praised, usually, but Hitsugaya much preferred the oddness in this case.

He smothered the infuriated growl that was desperate to escape his throat, and stormed back into the cave after Okada. Oh, yes. That impending screw-up could not come soon enough.

* * *

The final orders were in place.

Hinamori made sure that her zanpakutou was secure at her hip before leaving her quarters and heading for the West Gate. She had ordered her squad to meet her there, as well as link up with Kurotsuchi Nemu and the squad from the Twelfth. And she certainly did not want to leave her subordinates in their presence without her to regulate things; she faulted none of them for their reluctance to team up with the Twelfth Division for this mission.

Nemu herself wasn't bad; she seemed decent enough, at the least, from what she had seen at the vice-captain meetings. But she followed orders to the letter, and it was the source of those orders that could not be trusted. In all honesty, some part of Hinamori pitied the young woman, having to be at the beck and call of such a cruel captain. It only served to remind her of how lucky she was to serve Aizen-taichou.

And who knew what kind of disturbing types had been sent along for the mission? It was difficult to honestly trust anyone who worked under Kurotsuchi-taichou, even though Hinamori logically knew that most of them must be good people. A shinigami did not choose his or her captain, after all. But the Twelfth as a whole still unsettled her.

Nevertheless, she was pleased when she arrived at her destination and saw that her squad was not staying unnaturally far away from the Twelfth's. Hinamori truly did believe in camaraderie among all divisions; her wariness was a failing that she sought to work on. She would have started today, but Aizen-taichou's hints over what Kurotsuchi-taichou might be up to would not leave her mind. No, she would be on her guard today. After all, she had charged herself with a special task, and she would need to be alert in order to get it done.

She did not smile as she approached the squads. This was a mission, not an outing, and Hitsugaya-kun's and Rangiku-san's lives could be at stake. Most of her squad dwarfed her, but they respected her authority when she exercised it. They got along quite well.

Stopping in front of Nemu, she gave the requisite nod of respect. "Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou. I hope you're well. Are you and your squad prepared?"

Nemu folded her hands together and bowed at the waist, far deeper than what was necessary between two people of equal rank. "Hinamori-fukutaichou. Yes, I am functioning adequately with my recent upgrades from Mayuri-sama. We are prepared to move out whenever you and yours are ready."

Hinamori blinked at the other vice-captain's phrasing. Functioning adequately? Recent upgrades? She barely repressed a shudder at the latter. But what was far more disturbing was that Nemu talked about herself as though she were some sort of a machine. How terrible an environment she must have spent her days in to start thinking of herself in such an awful, dehumanizing manner.

But this was not the place to discuss such things. "Well, that's . . . good," she said, still not quite sure how she should process those statements. "Give me a minute to check in with my squad and then we'll head out."

She turned to her own men at this, and tried to hide how disturbing she had found the brief conversation. Doing a last-minute check should help. "Everyone has the route memorized? If you do get lost, don't move; just flare your reiatsu and I or one of the others will come to find you and get you back on course. Once there, no one is to go off on their own. The Hollows that have been reported are extremely dangerous, and I don't want anyone taking unnecessary risks. Understood?"

Nods and affirmations came after Hinamori finished her orders. She waited patiently, in case anyone had questions. She had not asked for questions specifically, but she knew that her subordinates found her approachable enough to ask without being prompted. But none spoke up, so she felt secure that her orders had been received and everything was clear.

"Right, then." Hinamori nodded firmly. "Move out."

Each squad followed behind its respective vice-captain, the very picture of loyalty. Every now and then, Hinamori would make a nervous glance over in Nemu's direction, seeing the woman's face absolutely expressionless every time. That had to be the result of being with Kurotsuchi-taichou so much. She had to shut down emotionally in order to deal with his awful treatment. Hopefully, someone would be able to do something for her one day.

They had to pause while Jidanbou lifted the gate for them, and despite the situation, Hinamori had to marvel as his sheer physical strength as she always had. Did he know that Hitsugaya-kun was missing? He would have had to open the gate for him, too. If he did know, then he would be feeling awful right now; Jidanbou was very fond of Hitsugaya-kun.

Jidanbou smiled down at them all while he held the massive gate open. "Off you go, my friends! Have a wonderful mission!" But then he blinked, and peered a little closer at Hinamori. His face brightened further. "Ah, Hinamori-san! It has been too long since I've seen you. Hitsugaya-kun should bring you with him more when he visits. Is he back from his mission, yet?"

Hinamori bit her lip. He didn't know what had happened, just assumed that he was still out on assignment. She probably should have told him the truth, but she could not bear the thought of bringing such sadness upon the giant man. "I'll . . . be sure to mention that to him, Jidanbou-san," she said. And she would, when she found him. Not if. "But no. He's not back yet."

She waved her squad along ahead of her, indicating that she would be following in a moment. With shunpo, it was easy for her to catch up. She wanted to talk with Jidanbou for a minute, to see if he could offer any possible insights. Any tiny detail at all that might be able to help.

"How strange. When he was here with his vice-captain, he said that it wouldn't be a long mission at all." Jidanbou frowned thoughtfully. "At least I think he said that; the two of them seemed to be arguing a lot. I've hardly seen him that talkative!"

Hinamori smiled sadly at the mention of the arguing. Hitsugaya-kun and Rangiku-san really were good friends, but they had been fighting a lot more since Hitsugaya-kun's promotion to captain of the Tenth. Some of the jibes they hurled at each other were even funny, and by and large she passed it off as an adjustment thing. They had new roles toward one another now, and they needed to work that out. She honestly doubted that either of them meant most of the things that they said to each other. But the arguing could be a clue, nonetheless.

"What were they arguing over?" If it was anything unusual, then it would be good for her to know.

"Hmm . . ." Jidanbou's eyes rolled skyward for a moment as he thought before regarding her again. "Hitsugaya-kun was saying things about respect, and propriety, and how Matsumoto-san was not his babysitter and should stop acting like she was."

Hinamori gave a small nod. That was typical fare for the two of them, so there was no clue to be had from their disagreement. She hadn't expected there would be, anyway. There was nothing more to go on that what she already had. But that was fine. She would work with it, and she would get her desired result.

"I see," she said at length, then pasted a cheery smile onto her face. No need for Jidanbou to catch onto her worry and start asking questions. "Well, I've got to catch up to my squad now, Jidanbou-san! It was lovely speaking with you, and I'll make sure to tell Hitsugaya-kun what you said."

He took one hand from the gate to wave at her as she sped by, voice resounding behind her. "Good luck, Hinamori-san! I'll be glad to see you both next time!"

Hinamori bit her lip as she caught up with the squads. She certainly hoped that Jidanbou's wishes could be honoured.


	6. Chapter 6

_**In Spite of Appearances **_

**CHAPTER SIX**

It was barely light out, a truly ungodly hour and yet somehow Matsumoto found herself awake anyway. Granted, she tended not to sleep nearly as late on missions as she did on office days, but scarcely after dawn was still awfully early. When they got home, she was going to sprawl out on the office couch and have a good, solid nap. Toushirou wouldn't like it, but he'd give up yelling after a few minutes, and then huff and quietly go back to doing the paperwork for both of them. Work got done, and she got her beauty sleep. It was a win-win situation.

She stood outside the cave, stretching broadly, and scratching irritably at one arm. The air was stuffy in there, and the quarters too close for stretching, so this was by far the better way to do things. Idly, she brushed a bit of dirt out of her hair. Getting dirty couldn't really be avoided on certain missions, so she wasn't terribly put out by it, but she still wrinkled her nose. Okay, new plan. Hot shower, and then the nap on the couch.

The sky was still halfway dim, but she could make out the minimal landscape well enough. She still had no idea how they could have come to be here – not just her and Toushirou, but any of them. They were nearly two dozen, from various divisions, mostly unseated with a few officers mixed in. It was all so very odd.

Her stomach rumbled, and she whined a little. She hadn't eaten since before they'd left on the mission, and now it was starting to get to her. When she went back in, she was going to have to ask someone about food. If they were still alive and giving off reiatsu, then they had to be eating something. And she wouldn't have to waste her time charming someone out of the information, either. Not for something so basic. She wasn't very sure that the had the energy to be charming right now, anyway.

But her mind had been working since Toushirou mentioned why it was suspicious that Okada was here. The leader of the squad that had been taken out recently. Could all the other people here been the ones gone missing in action the past few months? Only, she thought that none of their people were missing. Unohana hadn't said that there were any that hadn't been brought in, and surely she would have taken care to note such a major detail.

Matsumoto rubbed her forehead. This made no sense, and she was thinking too hard. What she wouldn't give for some sake right now to chase away the heavy thoughts. But considering the conditions they were currently living under, that seemed to be rather much to hope for. She wasn't quite as much of a lush as most people thought, but a pleasant little buzz would really hit the spot right about now.

"If the sun is too much for your eyes even now, you can always go back inside, Matsumoto," came a chilly voice from behind her.

She yelped and jumped, nearly spilling out of her shihakushou. Tucking herself more firmly within the cloth, she looked over, wide-eyed, to find Toushirou standing behind her, looking particularly unenthused. Well, wasn't he adorable with all that sleep-mussed hair and drowsy, grumpy eyes? The rumpled uniform really completed the effect. If she were feeling suicidal, she would have picked him up and hugged him to her chest, protests be damned.

But no matter how cute he looked, he was being extremely rude. "Toushirou-kun, it's rude to sneak up on people like that! You surprised me so much that they almost fell out!" She waved a hand at her breasts, to indicate what exactly she was talking about. "If you weren't you, I'd accuse you of trying to get a free look!"

"Sneak up?" Toushirou's scowl deepened. Crankier than usual this morning, it seemed. "I did no such thing. I'm not invisible, damn it; can no one see me before I speak?" His expression suddenly became more exasperated than angry. "And you know, if you'd wear a uniform that covered you properly, you wouldn't have the risk of spilling out."

She wagged her index finger at him. It was a good thing he'd gotten up; a silly conversation was just what she needed right now, and it certainly couldn't hurt him any. "Now, we're all allowed to express some sense of style with our uniforms. Besides, covering them up that much restricts my breathing, and you wouldn't want me to pass out from oxygen deprivation would you? Thus my ability to work is dependent on having my uniform the way it is. And you want me to work, right?."

"Whether or not you have the ability to work doesn't seem to have any bearing on your actually getting anything done," Toushirou said bitterly. "Maybe I'll be more open to the excuse if you can prove you can actually work like that."

"Now that's just being mean, Toushirou-kun," she pouted. "I do my work sometimes. It's not very nice for you to say that I never do; and here I thought you were such a stickler for accuracy. Maybe you'll do better once you get some breakfast into you."

"You only get anything done because I all but ram it down your throat. That doesn't instill me with confidence."

She shrugged. "The point stands that when you do that, I get work done. So my case is already proven, and you should take my word for what it is."

She smiled when Toushirou sighed in exasperation, unable to continue arguing after that point. One of these days, he would realize how futile these little tiffs were; she was far too good at them for him to ever win. And yet she hoped that he still tried in the future, because this type of arguing was fun. In fact, it was just the same as before he had become her captain, before he gotten into his head to be so insufferably bossy. If he would just loosen up like this, then they would both be happier.

It was all his fault, and the sooner he realized that, then they could move on. But he never listened when she tried to tell him that.

Nevertheless, it looked like the silly conversation was over and they had to get back to the situation at hand. Whatever it was; Toushirou still hadn't related whatever information he'd managed to wrangle out of Okada. All she knew was that he had come back into the cave looking as though he would very much have liked to punch the man in the face. Which was perfectly normal.

"So what did Okada say that got you so hacked off last night?" No point in being delicate about that question. It was a business matter, and Toushirou liked to deal with those directly. By his own logic, he should not take offense to her behaviour.

He glared up at her while trying to smooth out the wrinkles in his uniform. So much for following his own logic. "The idiot was his usual self. I trust that's enough to answer your question?" He tugged at a particularly persistent wrinkle, scowling at it when it still wouldn't straighten. "But if what you really wanted to know was what pertinent information I've gathered from him, you could have just asked."

"You don't make yourself very approachable for that kind of thing." Matsumoto chuckled, and ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to untangle it. "Besides, whenever I do try to involve myself in business matters, you always tell me to shut up. It really would help if you would make up your mind one way or the other, Toushirou-kun. You make serving under you very confusing."

"I only tell you to shut up on business matters when you speak over me," Toushirou countered, giving up in frustration on that wrinkle. "And you're the only one who seems to be confused about what's expected of you. Even a damned moron like Okada knows his own duties. The problem clearly isn't mine."

Okay, now that was just uncalled for. Matsumoto's mouth dropped open in shock, and her eyes darkened. That was going too far; Toushirou was being a complete brat now, to say something so vile as that. She placed her hands on her hips, barely restraining herself from hoisting him up by the back of his haori so that they could have a face-to-face chat.

"How dare you compare me to him that way! You hate that little weasel, and now you're saying that I'm worse than he is!" Her voice was probably going to wake everyone else in the cave, but she was too angry to care. She had just been cruelly insulted and she wasn't going to stand for it. "And you really don't make it easy to work under you. It's not gonna kill the division if you lighten up a little bit!"

"Matsumoto, keep your voice down, idiot!" Toushirou hissed, eyes flashing angrily. "Do you want everyone to hear us like this? Just be quiet so you don't make a damn scene and get people wondering how either of us earned our rank. People wonder enough about me as it is!"

She gritted her teeth, but paid heed to his snapping order to lower her voice. "And it's all about you, isn't it? You think nobody's ever wondered about me?"

"I never said that. I included both of us in my order, or weren't you paying enough attention?" He shook his head, ran his fingers through his hair a few times in an effort to make it look a bit less haphazard. "Forget it. People are on their way out here; we don't have time for this."

Matsumoto nodded and smoothed the anger from her features. These nasty disagreements were not something that they liked to broadcast to the world at large. If the lower ranks were to accomplish anything, they needed confidence in their superiors' ability to get along and work together. They could manage that, to a certain extent. It was the only thing that kept the Tenth running at this point. Morale might not have been hanging on by a thread, but it had suffered a few hits over the orders that Toushirou had put into place so far. He was really being a bit too harsh. Nothing dreadful, but he really needed to ease off a little.

Several people stepped out of the cave, in various stages of awareness. Nakahara seemed well-rested, even chipper. Either he had become accustomed to these conditions more quickly than the others had, or he was just a really sound sleeper. Come to think of it, the man had been snoring something awful last night, so he must have been pretty comfortable. How anyone could relax so well in a cave without so much as a blanket was frankly something that escaped Matsumoto.

Okada, on the other hand, still seemed to be half-asleep. He rubbed at his eyes, and yawned widely. Well, in this instance, she couldn't actually blame him, what with all of Nakahara's snoring, and all. Still, she eyed him with a measure of disgust as she remembered the unflattering comparison Toushirou had expressed. He probably deserved a look like that anyway, after whatever he had said to Toushirou last night that upset him so much.

And it seemed that the man had noticed her look; he brushed messy brown hair out of his eyes and asked, "What? Awfully early for you to be up anyway, isn't it, Vice-Captain? Nowhere near noon."

Matsumoto's frown deepened. Half the time, she was able to take what he said in good humour, but this was not one of those times. She was tired, she was cranky, and she had just been compared to this man in one of the worst possible ways. His little crack about her sleeping habits was not appreciated, and she opened her mouth to give him what for.

"Enough already, Okada," Toushirou said, cutting her off. "She's your superior officer, and you owe her more respect than that. When you speak to her, you'll do so properly."

A slight chill swept across the plain, and the cause was not lost on Matsumoto. She could almost feel the annoyance radiating off of Toushirou, lowering the temperature of the surrounding air. She wasn't the only one who shivered – everyone did, Okada more than most since the displeasure was aimed at him – but she was the only one who smiled. Look at that. Defending her honour, even though he was raking her over the coals for her job performance not five minutes ago. He could be sweet, when he chose to be.

When it came down to it, he was still her friend, rather than her boss. It was nice to know. And it took some of the sting out of their fight.

"My, the cold air just livens the morning right up, doesn't it?" she asked brightly to diffuse the tension. She stretched again, fully aware of a few pairs of eyes lingering on her more than they needed to, but paid it no mind. Hey, there was a lot to look at; she'd be the first one to admit that. "So what are we doing about food, exactly? Don't want a lady and a growing boy to go hungry, do you?"

The chill in the air became progressively more pronounced. First, it had been in response to the too-eager eyes on her – defending her again; wasn't that adorable? – and now to her little reference to him. She probably shouldn't have said that in the presence of other shinigami, but she had been so pleased with the way that he had so readily protected her that she had slipped into cheeky speech. It was her natural way of speaking; she could do formality, but she hated it. Still, she ought to return Toushirou's niceness with a little more respect than that.

"Sorry. A lady and a captain, I mean." She glanced down at Toushirou at these words, hoping that he took them for the genuine apology that they were. He was so hit-or-miss on that kind of thing that she wondered if he had endured many false apologies in the past, ones at best meant to just appease him. But she had slipped up honestly and was honestly sorry. There would be time for 'growing boy' remarks when they were alone.

Toushirou looked up at her in mild surprise, but the severity of his gaze lessened, and the air around them began to warm again. Well, it looked like he had understood her intent. That was good. While he wouldn't make a fuss in public, he had a long memory for teasing and would bring it up the next time they argued if she didn't apologize.

She clasped her hands together in front of her and smiled. "So. We were talking about breakfast?"

* * *

There was still no change in the bulk of the patients.

Unohana stepped out of one of the private patient rooms, where one of the victims of the more recent Hollow attacks still lay comatose. It had been nearly a month ago that this man had been brought in, and though physically fine for the most part, he had yet to awaken even once. Perhaps he was in an inner debate over whether he wished to live, but she could not be certain, and her intuition told her that it was something different than that.

Such could not, after all, explain certain oddities that had occurred.

One of the Tenth's shinigami that had been brought in a few days ago had perished last night, under the most peculiar of circumstances. She might have expected foul play and conducted an investigation of her staff and any visitors to the division, had she not seen the circumstance herself. She had been there when it happened, and yet she could not understand how it had occurred. That disturbed her. Greatly.

But she kept this emotion off her face as she walked the halls, benign smile a little too firmly in place. Unohana would not cause undue worry to flit through the Gotei, and seeing her display such an emotion would have been enough on its own, never mind its cause. People looked to her to be strong and reassuring, and she would do her best to provide them that comfort for as long as she was able. Perhaps once she knew what was going on, it would be better to make an announcement. But bereft of facts as she was, she would keep the matter private.

But not from Yamamoto-soutaichou. He had needed to be apprised of the situation, and thus she had sent a Hell Butterfly to him immediately after the woman's death. This was a matter that might well concern the whole of the Gotei, and she owed the Captain Commander as much information as she was able to give.

Unohana stepped out into the courtyard for a moment to get a breath. A magnificently planted flower garden lay just ahead of her, casting its summer hues over the white stone streets. It seemed to comfort most who visited here, and was quite often a comfort to her as well. Often, in the evenings, she would sit and admire the gardens with a cup of hot tea. And it was not uncommon for Isane to come and join her as she did so.

But she found little comfort in them right now. She didn't know what was going on with her patients, and while she made no claim of being all-knowing, the feeling was unnatural. In over two thousand years, she had not seen the like of this.

She cast her eyes upward, and blinked once when she saw a Hell Butterfly delicately make its way in her direction. An answer to her message, perhaps? Or a request for emergency assistance? Gracefully, she laid her palm out to the air and watched the creature settle there and deliver its message.

Her lips formed a firm line. It was indeed an answer to last night's message, and Yamamoto-soutaichou wished to speak with her directly on the matter as soon as she could schedule enough time. Which was hardly an issue at the moment; Isane knew how to run things in her absence and had the skill to tend to almost any emergency. Everyone's lives were well in hand even if she had to leave the division for a while, and the situation was urgent.

"Thank you," she said kindly to the Hell Butterfly. Most people did not bother to speak with them, but she would have considered it rude not to thank them for performing their duties. "I shall come straight away."

She lightly dismissed the creature and immediately made her way toward the First Division, sliding into shunpo along the way. This matter was too important for her to waste precious minutes walking over so much of Seireitei.

Thus the trip was quick, and she stopped a short distance from the First Division offices, haori swishing about her legs as she did so. Surprisingly enough, she found that she was not alone, the tall, stern figure of Sasakibe Choujirou coming into view in front of her. As usual, his hand rested upon the hilt of his zanpakutou, prepared to draw it at a second's notice should the need arise to protect both his division and his captain. She gave a small, but genuine smile, seeing that.

Sasakibe bowed deeply. "Unohana-taichou. Yamamoto-sama expected you would be here as soon as you received his summons. If you would follow me?"

Ah, her old teacher knew her well. The statement of waiting for her to have the time had been intentionally superfluous. Yamamoto-soutaichou knew that she would very much prefer not to wait when lives could be put at risk.

"Of course. Thank you, Sasakibe-fukutaichou."

She nodded once in acknowledgement before following Sasakibe in the direction of the offices. Unohana knew her way through the Fist Division by heart, but she would not turn down the respectful offer of being escorted. And Sasakibe was pleasant, if very quiet company. It was not really the time for idle chatter, anyway, and she knew that the man was very aware of that unfortunate fact.

They stopped in front of the door to Yamamoto-soutaichou's office, Unohana standing two steps behind the vice-captain. She clasped her hands in front of her in a habit that was old a millennium ago as she awaited permission to enter.

"Unohana-taichou is here in answer to your summons, sir," Sasakibe's voice rang out clearly.

At the subsequent acknowledgement, he bowed to her and strode off on his own, no doubt aware of the private nature of this conversation. He would not have had to be told; the man had an instinctive sense of where he should be and when he should be there, thus also noticing when his presence was not desired. Loyal and perceptive, he had served her old teacher well for quite some time.

Unohana slid the screen open, closing it softly behind her when she was through. She took a moment to gather herself, though to the outside eye nothing about her would have appeared to be different. But she always felt like a young girl when she came into this office, the attention of a man so important as Yamamoto-soutaichou out of place on someone such as her. It was a feeling that she should have long-since shed, and yet it remained.

Her old teacher was in the process of completing a form, and she silently waited for him to finish, watching the graceful strokes of the brush. Important though this business might be, it was not the only business that needed attending. And if he had been expecting her as Sasakibe had said, then it would likely take little more than a moment. Perhaps he had also just given her the time to collect herself; he knew of the feelings she experienced when she entered this room.

Sure enough, he set the brush aside, and pushed the paper forward a little so that he could fold his hands on the desk while the ink dried. His eyes, as usual, were mostly overwhelmed by his heavy brow, but she could tell that he was regarding her with the utmost seriousness. No less could be expected of the man.

"It is unlike you to be so cryptic, Retsu," he began, voice softly rumbling forth. There was no intent behind that rumbling; it was merely a natural product of his voice. "This matter requires even such secrecy as to not tell the whole of it to a Hell Butterfly? You would not behave in this fashion otherwise."

Even when business was official, if she and Yamamoto-soutaichou were alone, he often fell back into using her given name. Perhaps her presence also drew him back to an earlier time, when he was a younger man taking on someone who was barely a woman as his protégé. It was a time even before the Academy where Kyouraku and Ukitake, as well as all future shinigami, trained, and she had learned from Yamamoto-soutaichou directly; the Gotei as it stood now had been a distant dream back then, scarcely a seed in the ground.

The seed had grown splendidly, but the garden had been too quickly and ruthlessly trimmed as of late.

"I thought it best that I report personally, yes," she said with a respectful nod. "You would have still had questions if I had said more through the message; this meeting would have occurred either way. This way, we at least save some time."

Yamamoto-soutaichou nodded. "Yes. Best to be expedient. So this death you witnessed is suspicious?"

She tilted her chin up a little in a show of confidence; though he had seen her unsettled before, and had brought comfort in those times, she was as loathe to show him the extent of her discomfort as she was to anyone else. "It concerns the death of Agano Sayuri of the Tenth. I was performing a routine check of her vitals and reiatsu pattern, where everything felt normal. In fact, I was about to leave when she suddenly began thrashing about in the bed, growling as though in pain . . . And marks appeared on her body. Bruises and deep gashes formed from no apparent source."

Unohana paused here, allowing him to take in the beginning of her report. The image of the girl had yet to leave her mind. Death throes she had seen many a time. Sudden gaping wounds with no one there to inflict them she had not. Perhaps Yamamoto-soutaichou could provide her with a clue. Or failing that, lend his support to her investigations.

"And you were unable to seal off these wounds before the girl perished?"

There was nothing accusing in his tone, but a pang of guilt passed through her mind anyway. She shook her head. "It was not so much that, sir. I surrounded her in a kidou barrier to slow the bleeding as I repaired the damage. She did not bleed out. But as I worked, the wounds kept appearing; the last – a puncture to the heart – killed her even as I healed."

Yamamoto-soutaichou's eyes widened at that. "You are certain that there was no infiltration? No abnormally clever Hollow that could cloak itself from sight?"

"I am certain." The thought had not occurred to her, in all honesty. But she knew that this incident had not happened in such a way. "And my kidou barrier would prevent most outside attacks from reaching the patient. Anything strong enough to pierce through what I constructed is something that I would have noticed during the attack, if not before it."

It was not arrogant of her to say this. Unohana was a powerful shinigami, and she knew the extent of her strength. To break through a kidou of hers would have required a tremendous amount of concentrated reiatsu, and that was not something that would have escaped her notice. And she would have taken steps to dispose of any threat that breached the walls of the Fourth. If there had been a Hollow, she would have found and eliminated it herself.

"Hm. This is true," Yamamoto-soutaichou said. One hand went to his cane, that gnarled wooden staff that no one would suspect contained a blade capable of immense, fiery destruction. Rarely was it ever released, and Unohana was thankful for that. "What is it you suspect, then? Have you yet performed an autopsy on the girl?"

"Protocol dictates that I must have the permission of the deceased's captain before conducting such an invasive examination. Without the consent of Hitsugaya-taichou, I cannot in good conscience perform the procedure."

Yamamoto-soutaichou turned in his chair, fetching a blank sheet of paper from a nearby shelf. He picked up his brush and began writing out characters on the page. "If it is consent that you need, as the Captain Commander, I can provide it in his stead. We have a threat on our hands that could strike at any time, and we need answers if we are to battle it." He nodded toward the page he was writing on. "This should satisfy the records department of your permission. I want you to autopsy Agano Sayuri as soon as possible, so that we might discover exactly what we are up against."

She nodded firmly, glad to have official sanction. If the situation had gotten desperate enough, she would have gone ahead with the procedure anyway – the dead could no longer be helped, but the secrets that their bodies contained could well protect those still living. And she would have accepted reprimand if it came to that in such an instance.

But Unohana had lead a long military life, and was in the habit of having drastic action be approved by her commander. So she took the orders when her teacher handed them to her, and bowed deeply before exiting the office. It was time for the investigation to begin.


	7. Chapter 7

_**In Spite of Appearances **_

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Maybe it was just an effect of his lack of sleep, but Hitsugaya still couldn't figure out what in the hell was going on. One moment, he and Matsumoto had been taking down some rogue Hollow, and the next, he was in charge of a ragtag bunch of shinigami that couldn't seem to figure out how to get back to Seireitei. What was worse was that he had to include himself among those who were lacking knowledge. It wasn't a place that he liked to be; he was used to knowing more than the people around him. And as a captain, he should have had a better handle on the situation.

Still, the others had accepted his leadership well enough. A few light snickers here and there, but a narrow-eyed scowl took care of those. Most knew how to respect the chain of command, though, and he supposed that counted for something. Far too many people had looked at him dubiously over his shinigami career when he gave orders. That he was accepted as well as he was here was a miracle.

In spite of his efforts not to, he itched at his back. Nakahara had taken another look at the wounds there and had done a little more work on him, but the injury was not completely healed yet. Oh, how he hated the itchiness of knitting flesh; it was one of several banes of his existence. He'd lost track of how many of those there were.

"So, what are we up to now, Captain?"

Ah, there was one of the banes, now. He closed his eyes and counted to ten before turning to face Okada, hating the fact that he had to crane his neck to look the junior officer in the eye. And hell if there wasn't a satisfied gleam in those eyes over that little fact. But one day – one day soon – Hitsugaya would have the proper excuse to send him off to some other division. To give him to some other captain to torment. Or to be tormented by that captain. Either way worked, so long as Okada was nowhere near him.

But as the man hadn't done anything overtly disrespectful just now, Hitsugaya crossed his arms. "And exactly how is it any of your business what I'm up to, Okada? If I have orders to give, then I'll give them. Surely even you have enough of a brain to grasp such a concept?"

Okada frowned playfully. "You know, Captain, people tend to listen better when you don't insult them all the time. I think you could have phrased that more politely; it would get a much better response."

Oh, Okada was going to lecture him on his people skills, too? Who the hell did the idiot think he was? And he wasn't one to talk about politeness, the way he made uncalled for jabs at all of his superior officers. They weren't delivered in a mean-spirited fashion, but they were grossly disrespectful all the same. If he didn't learn to shut up, somebody less forgiving was going to kill him one day. And as much as he disliked Okada, Hitsugaya would rather prefer his officers not get killed.

"Because laughing at your captain is so polite?" he returned pointedly. The day he had taken over the division, he had heard Okada burst out laughing from across the courtyard. In a fit of blind rage, Hitsugaya had frozen the idiot's jaw shut. If only that could have been the end of it. "You've no right to lecture me, for multiple reasons. So if you've got nothing of value to say, you can shut that mouth of yours, because I really don't want to hear it."

Okada raised his hands in a gesture for calm. "Hey, relax. I was just –"

"Are you bothering him again?"

Hitsugaya took some satisfaction in the fact that Okada paled at the sound of Matsumoto's voice. Normally, he would have resented her interference, but he would much rather have her deal with Okada. At least she could make it through a talk with him without wanting to run him through with her zanpakutou. Or so he assumed. He didn't understand how anyone could manage that.

Matsumoto fixed Okada with a stern look, every inch the vice-captain that she should be. Every now and then, she would show why she got where she was; Hitsugaya was not one of the crass morons who thought she got her rank because of her womanly curves, but he did wonder sometimes just how someone so lazy achieved high standing in a military organization. But when she chose to, she could be serious and command respect. He could get used to a vice-captain like that, but he didn't dare set his hopes so high. Hell, he'd settle for her doing half of her own paperwork at this point.

"No . . . no, of course not!" Okada waved his hands frantically, as if that would help him make his point. Never mind that his point was a damned lie. "I was just . . . well, I . . ."

Matsumoto looked down her nose at him. "Go get everyone together; Hitsugaya-taichou will want to hold a strategy meeting." She waved a hand dismissively. "Now move along!"

Hitsugaya stood silently after Okada scuttled off to obey orders. In truth, he was rather grateful that she had stepped in before he'd lost enough of his temper to actually hit the man. Striking subordinates outside of a spar or training session was not proper behaviour for anyone who wished to call himself a good captain. And enough people questioned his right to be one as it was.

"So." Matsumoto's voice was unusually quiet, and he quirked an eyebrow at the oddity. "Not going to get on my case for helping you out, this time?"

Was that what she was on about? Most people enjoyed not being reprimanded; trust Matsumoto to be the exception. "If you would rather that I did, I'm sure I can come up with something to say."

At that, Matsumoto actually burst out laughing, a shocking contrast to her soft words a moment ago. She waved a hand at him as she got herself back under control. "Oh, no, that's really okay, Toushirou-kun! It's actually nice not getting snapped at all the time! But thanks for the consideration."

If this weren't consistent behaviour for Matsumoto, Hitsugaya would have questioned whether there had been something odd in the food or water. Which meant, of course, that he would have had to keep a watch for such idiocy in his own behaviour, and that was an extremely unpleasant prospect. He didn't want to turn into some giggling lunatic, or even consider the possibility.

So he let the laughter – and the name – go with nothing more than an eye roll. He didn't have time to lecture her, or anyone right now. He needed to figure out what was going on and how to get back to Seireitei. And by the time they got there, it would be petty of him to still be annoyed at this instance. So Matsumoto would get off easy this time.

He knelt down at the river's edge, cupping his hands together for another drink of water. The liquid was delightfully cold as it flowed down his throat, and that chill eased his mood somewhat. At his back, Hyourinmaru rumbled his approval of their current location. Rather easy to please, as far as dragons went. Just get him near cold water.

That he could still hear the dragon in his mind was a relief. When he had proved the truth of Okada's claim that Hell Butterflies could not be summoned, some part of him had worried that his connection with his zanpakutou might have been broken as well. That part had been mostly overshadowed by irritation and he had not thought to ask Okada if he could still hear his. It was something to bring up when everyone was together; he had to know the capabilities of the people he was leading.

Come to think of it, he hadn't asked Matsumoto, either. Might as well do that since she was here already. One less tally to take when they were all assembled.

"Matsumoto," he said, drying his hands on the grass for lack of anywhere better to do so. "I've been meaning to ask since last night. But is Haineko still with you?"

"Hm? You mean the sword, or her spirit?"

Hitsugaya stood, and turned to face her, his expression thoroughly unamused. She was not that stupid. Seriously, she could not have been that stupid. What the hell did she think he was asking about? He wasn't blind. But he said nothing, waiting for her to work it out on her own. Obvious as the answer was, it should not take very long.

"Well, considering that you can see, I guess you were referring to her spirit," she said at last. What a brilliant deduction. "And yeah, she's still around. I've heard her complaining about the lack of pillows around here. You know how spoiled and lazy she is." She shook her head in disgust as though she shared neither of these qualities. "Why? Are you having a problem with Hyourinmaru?"

Good. If Haineko were still around, then it boded well for the other officers among them to still have their shikai available should they have need to fight. While he sensed nothing dangerous at the moment, he'd heard hints from the others that there were dangers to be faced here, and he would not be caught unaware.

He shook his head. "No. He's here, and he's fine. But the air is strange here, and with being unable to summon Hell Butterflies, I need to know if there's anything else normal that we can't do while we're here. We could have accommodated for lack of shikai by knowing in advance, though it seems we're still okay there. And Okada has informed me that kidou is still a reliable option."

Matsumoto regarded him with a soft smile at his explanation, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. There was nothing cheeky or mischievous about the expression, and she actually didn't seem inclined to say anything. Hell, she didn't – quite – look like she wanted to scoop him up and hug him, either. He hadn't seen that look on her face in quite some time, and in all reality could not pinpoint what it was supposed to mean. He was just explaining strategy; it didn't warrant such an odd reaction.

And he might have questioned her on it too, if Okada hadn't chosen that exact moment to return, the full contingent of shinigami behind him. Perhaps he would ask her about it later, if he could find the time. It sure as hell wasn't curiosity; it was just the proper thing for a captain to know what was on his vice-captain's mind. Really. The idea wasn't going to nag at him at all.

"All assembled as requested, sir," Okada said in that same official tone that he had used the previous night. After a nervous glance at Matsumoto, he followed up his words with a quick bow. Well. Maybe he'd stay in line for a while if he were that unsettled.

The gathering hadn't taken long either, perhaps no more than ten or fifteen minutes had passed since Matsumoto had sent the man scrambling off on this order. Either the others had all been grouped together, or Okada actually knew how to do something efficiently. Hitsugaya was hoping for the former. If he kept doing things right, that transfer was never going to happen. Hell, Okada was probably being efficient on purpose just to be smug.

He didn't even acknowledge Okada – had to show how far above him he was – and instead addressed the group as a whole. "First of all, there are a few things that I want to know of your current capabilities. Those of you who have achieved shikai, you can all still hear your zanpakutou spirits? If any of you can't, speak up now. Lives could depend on this."

There were general nods and affirmations from each of the seated officers – there were four – and two of the unseated that their zanpakutou's abilities were still at their disposal. Good. The stronger members of the group still had all of their offensive power. Perhaps healing power too, in Nakahara's case, though he wasn't sure that all of the Fourth's officers had healing zanpakutou.

"Good. I expect honesty on this; who is better with kidou than with a sword?" If he were going to give effective combat formations, he needed to know who needed to be in the front and back lines. From his records, he knew that Okada was decent at both, with a slight strength in favour of kidou. He didn't know about anyone else.

Decisively, he swept his eyes over his assembled troops, taking in who raised their hands and mentally keeping a tally. Of the twenty-two there, fifteen were more kidou inclined. Damn. He was going to have to front-line Okada, which meant that he was going to have the extreme displeasure of fighting side-by-side with his Tenth Seat.

He nodded to himself. It wasn't ideal, but he had to work with whatever he had. Some part of him wished that Hinamori was here, so that he could have someone he already knew and trusted be in charge of the kidou wielders, but he quickly rejected that thought. She would only have been here if something had happened to her, and hell if he would have tolerated that.

"Ito," he called out sharply, and the young woman – thirteenth seat of the Eighth Division – snapped to attention at his address. As she was the highest seated officer among the kidou users, he had to trust her to be in charge of them. "You're in charge of the back line should we engage in combat."

She nodded resolutely, eyes hard. "Yes, sir."

The woman's austerity was encouraging. If she were as stern and sensible as she appeared to be, then Hitsugaya could be comfortable in the knowledge that the back line was in capable hands. He hated to rely on someone he had just met to command a battle formation, but this situation was showing him already that he had to put a little more trust in others. Whether he liked it or not.

Hitsugaya finally acknowledged Okada directly; he had to speak to him to give him his assignment, after all. "Okada, you're front line; we need a better balance up there."

Okada's eyes widened at this statement, as though that wasn't the assignment he had been hoping for. Perhaps it wasn't. He could very well be afraid of getting up close and personal with Hollows, for all that such a fear was unbecoming an officer. Well, too bad. Orders were orders, and if he said a single thing against him, he would be in for a public reprimand.

But after a moment, he swallowed, and gave a simple nod. "Understood, sir."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes at him, searching for any sign of cheekiness or rebelliousness in his eyes. To his surprise, he found none. The man had actually accepted an order from him without questioning. It was a welcome change, but Hitsugaya knew better than to get his hopes up. All of this compliance was not going to last.

"Get yourselves grouped off according to your formation positions. I'll be checking on you in a few minutes, so don't even think of slacking off while I'm not watching."

A few faces paled at his last statement, but he didn't care. As a captain, he was going to scare people every now and again. At least the frightened people respected his authority, after all. Granted, he didn't want to have to be intimidating as the only way to get people to listen, but right now he didn't have much more than that.

He jerked his head at Matsumoto to follow him as he allowed everyone some space to get organized. It occurred to him suddenly that she had not said a word during the meeting, even when he had given space to do so. No scolding. No countermanding. No speaking over him. It was another nice change, if an unexpected one.

"That was very nicely laid out, Toushirou-kun," Matsumoto said once they were alone, a big grin stretching her lips. And it looked as though she was trying to resist the urge to reach over and pat him on the head in congratulations. The resistance counted for something, at least. On another day, she probably would have gone ahead and done it without bothering to think first.

He snorted, crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course it was. Though if you're going to compliment me on my orders, perhaps you should call me 'Captain' instead of 'Toushirou-kun.' Makes more sense that way."

The words might have been lacking their usual bite. Matsumoto was hardly shy about questioning him, so if she had a problem with what he'd said, she would have told him by now, even if she refrained from doing so in public. He was the superior officer, he was the genius . . . but she'd been an officer longer than he had. And she was his friend. It meant something to have that tacit approval. Hell if he'd ever let on about it, though. No need to swell her head.

"Never happy, even when you're being complimented." Matsumoto's voice was wry, but not the least bit angry. She must have caught the gentler tone of his. "Then again, you've been like that from day one. As for calling you 'Captain' . . ." She paused here, and made a show of putting her finger to her chin and rolling her eyes skyward. "Well that's not something that just comes, you know. But one of these days, it will."

He wanted to call her on that. He wanted to so badly, but he knew very well how counterproductive that would have been. Honestly, though. He had been given the promotion, and placed in charge of the Tenth. Why was that not enough for her to refer to him by his rank? It just baffled him that she could honour his orders one second while treating him like a little boy the next. And then start honouring orders again as though nothing was even different.

Hitsugaya massaged his forehead. Trying to figure out Matsumoto's thought processes always gave him a headache. He really needed to quit doing that.

"One of these days," he repeated, not really having much hope anymore. He was always going to be 'Toushirou-kun' to her, wasn't he? Didn't mean he'd stop trying to get her to address him properly, though. He had to assert himself, even if it was in futility.

Matsumoto giggled, then fell silent for a moment. When she spoke again, she did so gravely. "Toushirou-kun? Can I ask you something?"

He raised an inquiring eyebrow at this. Since when did she ask for permission for something like that? Hell, since when did she ask permission for anything? She was acting weird again, and he was about ready to start questioning reality at this point. All this seriousness, mild tentiveness . . . It wasn't like her, and he was not in favour of that – especially the latter quality. That was almost unsettling. The Matsumoto that he knew and tolerated was a confident woman.

"You've noticed something weird about the air here, right?" she continued after a moment. "I don't just mean that heaviness when we've tried to summon Hell Butterflies. Sometimes, I feel something prickling across my skin . . . but there's nothing there. It's a weak feeling, but it's still there. And I figure it's something about the air itself since there doesn't seem to be anything else that could cause it."

He blinked at this. He'd noticed the feeling himself, vaguely, but dismissed it as being of no consequence. Perhaps he might have waved it off as Matsumoto being whiny – which she was, sometimes – or making things up for the hell of it. But given how serious she had been when she outlined this, Hitsugaya had a feeling that she was telling nothing less than the absolute truth. And he'd never thought to find a cause himself, being busy with other things and just figuring that the sensation was from a mundane source. It had seemed a small issue at the time.

Perhaps he should have paid more attention.

He nodded. "I noticed. Do you think it could be something that will cause a problem? Have you addressed it with any of the others?"

She looked surprised at his questions, though for what reason he couldn't say. He certainly didn't think that there was anything strange about what he'd asked. It was a simple request for information on a potentially important issue. No need to be so stupid about it.

Matsumoto shrugged, trying and failing to give off an air of nonchalance. "Well, I didn't want to bother everyone with something that probably was no big deal. But if you think I should bring it up to them, then I'll go ahead and do that."

"So instead of bothering everyone with something you thought was unimportant, you decided to just bother me." There was no barb in this statement, as Matsumoto had just been trying to cover her discomfort. But the familiar banter might put her a little more at ease. He pondered her last statement for a moment before answering her. "It's not of immediate concern. Find out about it, but you don't have to be in a rush."

Matsumoto smiled, and there was strength in her features this time. That was much better. To see her frowning, despondent, doubtful . . . Well that was unnatural and he wanted none of that. Just because he wanted her to recognize and respect his abilities and authority didn't mean that he wanted her to change that drastically. Just a little more self-motivation to do her work, and referring to him by his title. That was it. He could live with the rest.

"Think everyone's mobilized, yet?" she asked, shading her eyes with one hand as she looked back to the mismatched squad. "Looking pretty good from here. Too bad you had to put Okada up front with us, though. Then again, if he'd stayed back, he'd have been in charge of the kidou wielders, wouldn't he? I don't think you wanted that, did you?"

In spite of himself, Hitsugaya smirked. "No, I think I still would have taken my chances on Ito." And he truly might have, at that. Who the hell had made Okada an officer, anyway? "But yeah. Everyone seems to have gotten organized. I think it's about time to head out."

* * *

"Still no word?"

Hinamori sighed sadly at the shaking head of her squad member. But then she pasted a smile onto her face gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. It wasn't his fault, after all, that the news wasn't good. And she had just sent him on that errand as a quick check before they headed out on their next sweep of West District Forty-Eight. Their past two times out still had not yielded everything that they were looking for, and the partnership with the Twelfth had yet to be dissolved.

It had been three days now, and Hinamori could not help but worry. What would she tell Jidanbou if this didn't work out? Worse, what would she tell Granny? She couldn't bear the thought of informing either of them that something dreadful had happened to Hitsugaya-kun. But she would do it, if she had to. They would deserve to hear it from someone who cared.

She ordered her squad to move out, running side-by-side with Nemu again. Hinamori was still not quite comfortable around her, and she felt a little bit guilty about that. Nemu hadn't done anything wrong, or creepy, or unsettling during their times out. It wasn't fair to her, but Hinamori just kept thinking of Kurotsuchi-taichou behind the scenes, pulling his poor vice-captain's strings.

The trip out to West Forty-Eight was a silent one. Having been out together twice in as many days, the occasional direction was no longer needed. Hinamori was focused on her goal, and Nemu was someone who was just disinclined to speak. But they worked well together, even if their goals were not entirely the same.

And Hinamori's goal was not quite the same as Aizen-taichou's orders, even.

Guilt gnawed at the back of her mind over that, since she wanted nothing more than to please her captain. Though he hadn't actually forbade her plan of action, either. Well, she hadn't told him what it was – she didn't want him to get into trouble for going against orders – but he had not said that she was not permitted to destroy these mysterious Hollows. It was a loophole in his orders, and he did not wish for the Twelfth to have these creatures for study any more than she did. Hopefully, he would be glad of her taking the initiative and stopping whatever Kurotsuchi-taichou had in mind.

When they reached their destination, she and Nemu ordered their squads off into what had become their usual pairs, each one consisting of a member of the Fifth and a member of the Twelfth. The partners always stayed the same – to promote teamwork and to become accustomed to one another – but each was sent out to a different area every day. Fresh eyes might pick out something that someone else had missed.

"Are you ready, Hinamori-fukutaichou?" Nemu asked after they saw the pairs off to their assigned sectors. Her voice, as always, was perfectly emotionless.

Hinamori nodded firmly. "Any time that you are. Let's be on our way, then."

They were off in a blur of shunpo. Today, she and Nemu would be investigating the prominent lake in the district, and in all truth she was glad of that. Hitsugaya-kun had always loved the water. Some part of her was certain that if they were to find any clues, that they would be found here. No matter that no one else had. She was Hitsugaya-kun's friend, and she would find out what had happened. That was that.

Mentally, she called up the incantations of several kidou that might be useful in this situation. The contents of the list were not always the same; the terrain dictated what might be effective and what might be more dangerous to allies than to enemies. She didn't really need to speak the incantations unless she was going to cast something really high level, but it never hurt to go over them in her mind before combat if she could afford to do so.

Being near water, she focused on both that element, and that of lightning. As far as elemental spells went, those would pack the most punch. And the open landscape didn't put any restrictions on the radius of any bakudou, so that was helpful at least. Failing any of her kidou, she still had Tobiume at her side; she was better with a spell than with a sword, but she could more than defend herself with her zanpakutou.

Hinamori glanced in Nemu's direction, pondering. How did Nemu fight, actually? She had never thought to ask. A quick once-over revealed no zanpakutou, although she supposed that it could be concealed somewhere. Perhaps tucked within a sleeve? Down her front? Under that skirt that she wore in place of proper hakama? Then again, she was a creation of Kurotsuchi-taichou's. It was entirely possible that she was incapable of summoning a sword at all.

So was she a kidou user as well? It had to be either that or hakuda. And there had been Nemu's talk on the first day of their search . . . Something about upgrades having been performed on her. Hinamori shuddered. Perhaps it was better that she didn't know about her fellow vice-captain's combat capabilities, after all. Whatever Kurotsuchi-taichou had 'augmented' was something that she did not care to be informed of.

Hinamori landed in a crouch at the water's edge, fingers lightly dipping in. She smiled, a little sadly. The liquid was pleasantly cold to the touch, and the surrounding air a little cooler than elsewhere in the district. Hitsugaya-kun would have liked it here. Not that he would have stopped to appreciate the relative cool while he was out on a mission – he was nothing if not focused – but he would have found it a nice break from the summer heat, nonetheless. It really had been a dreadfully hot summer so far.

"Is there something there, Hinamori-fukutaichou? I can neither see nor sense anything at your current post."

Hinamori blinked up at Nemu. What? Then her cheeks coloured as she realized how far off into space she had drifted. She wasn't going to be able to help anyone that way, and she had still let her thoughts wander. It wasn't right at all. So she climbed back to her feet and shook her head.

"No. I just lost myself in thought. That's all," she admitted. She gazed across the water's surface; it really was quite a beautiful lake, though in the current situation she found herself unable to properly appreciate that beauty. Hinamori tried to peer into the lake's depths, but the sun reflected too brightly off the water. "I wonder if it could be something within the lake itself, though. Might not be any way to tell short of going under there."

Nemu titled her head to one side. "That is possible. It could explain why such Hollows would be able to hide in a wide-open area with little else to use as cover. I am equipped to handle such an expedition, Hinamori-fukutaichou. Is there a kidou that would allow you to breathe underwater? If not, I can simply report my findings to you when I resurface."

Hinamori had just been pondering similar logistics, and simply stared at Nemu for a moment after the suggestion. Equipped to handle . . . She forced herself not to wonder if that was one of the upgrades; no good could come from such thoughts. The other vice-captain's question almost startled her. It was something that she hadn't thought about, and even though that was perfectly reasonable, she still felt a bit stupid. And it presented a problem to her plans.

There was no kidou specifically for such a purpose. She would need to do some experimenting later to see if she could come up with a combination of spells that would provide such an effect. But if those Hollows really were down there, she needed to be there in order to take care of them as she saw fit. Nemu would only capture them for study, and Hinamori would not have a reasonable excuse to destroy them after they were already subdued.

Still, holding together an untested blend of spells to breathe while still needing to fight underwater . . . It was too dangerous. She needed an alternate plan.

So she shook her head again. "No. There's no kidou for that. If you do find any of the Hollows under there, try to draw them up to the surface. They've taken down officers of our rank and even . . . higher . . ." she trailed off for a few seconds before steeling herself and speaking more firmly. "It wouldn't be a good idea for either of us to try and subdue one alone."

Nemu gave her a quick, utilitarian nod. "The strategy is sound. I shall conduct the survey on my own. Please await my return, Hinamori-fukutaichou."

Hinamori said nothing as Nemu walked past her, without hesitation stepping into the water. It wasn't the ideal situation, but it could work. It had to. And so she watched silently as Nemu's head disappeared beneath the waves.


	8. Chapter 8

**_In Spite of Appearances_**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

The water was cold against Nemu's skin, but she did not shudder or flinch. Her design was far too advanced for her to have that kind of reaction to something so mundane as a sudden change in temperature. Neither heat nor chill bothered her. When she saw others so disturbed by them, it made her glad that Mayuri-sama had chosen to create her this way.

And she was also not bothered by the way that her clothing became soaked and heavy in short order; it would not hinder her ability to swim, and was therefore irrelevant. She had only to keep her mind on the task at hand, and she would not be dissuaded. Mayuri-sama wished for one of these unusual Hollows for study, and she would do everything in her power to ensure that his desire came to fruition. Perhaps he might even allow her to participate in the research, if she performed his orders well enough.

The waters closed over her head, and she took this opportunity to swim rather than walk. Though the sunlight made it easy to see, her eyes could detect nothing abnormal thus far; this lake was very deep. She cast her senses about her, checking for even the most minute ripple in the water that might have been out of place, for any reiatsu that could have been channeled through the water molecules.

Nothing so far. She would have to keep searching.

Nemu's eyes were narrow with scrutiny. Were anyone around to observe her, he might have likened her expression to that of a shark: predatory and deadly. But no such emotions lurked behind her eyes. Emotion rarely did. She was in possession of feelings, but they were a hindrance to what Mayuri-sama needed from her, so she had removed them from herself as best she could. Unfortunately, she was unable to rid herself of them all. Her apologies to Mayuri-sama for her failure had not gone over well. He had been very displeased with her, as was his right.

The water pressure on her back became more and more uncomfortable the deeper she dove. Less than a month ago, she might have been crushed by all of the weight, but Mayuri-sama's upgrades for her had included a reinforced skeletal structure. The timing was most auspicious.

Nemu slowed her pace as her senses lighted upon something. Interesting. The feeling was most certainly that of a Hollow, but there was an oddness to it. If asked to describe this oddness, she would have been unable to. But she had never experienced it before, and she found herself greatly intrigued. The tiniest of smiles graced her face, though only the most thorough scrutiny would have detected it. If she could capture such a specimen as ordered, Mayuri-sama would be very pleased with her.

If she could not, she would willingly suffer the punishment for failure.

She drifted onto the lake's bottom, standing straight and alert. Her senses retained a fix on the Hollow, though she as yet she saw nothing. Doubtless it had noticed her and was trying to escape her attention, more than likely for a surprise assault. That would not do. She needed to draw the subject to the surface so that Hinamori-fukutaichou could assist her with the capture. Thus that dictated that she make the first move.

Remaining still, Nemu tracked the Hollow as it traveled in ever-tightening circles around her, a predator stalking its prey. She patiently waited until it finally shot toward her from behind, abandoning all attempts at cover.

She brought her foot down roughly onto the lakebed, kicking rock up behind her. As she spun, she noticed that her action had achieved its intended result; the Hollow stopped short, snarling in thwarted fury as the rocks pelted its body. Nemu took this opportunity for a barehanded swipe at the Hollow's side.

At the last second, the Hollow jerked away from her hand. But her fingers did manage to lightly bite through flesh, sending a cloud of blood swirling into the water. With the beast clearly enraged, Nemu had accomplished what she set out to do. When she made her break for the surface, the Hollow would follow her in an effort to avenge itself and in doing so charge directly into a trap.

"Vicious little shinigami, aren't you? I don't even get the dignity of your sword pointed at me?"

Nemu raised an eyebrow at the fact that the Hollow could speak – and underwater, at that – but she bent her legs and pushed upward just in time to avoid the answering swipe of the Hollow's hand. She would have to keep a hard pace, now; while she was not uncomfortable underwater, the world beneath the waves was far more this Hollow's domain than hers.

She whirled into an abrupt roundhouse kick when the Hollow caught up with her, striking a solid blow at the wrist to knock its hand away. Nemu frowned; even with her quick reaction, she had barely managed to defend herself in time. Hinamori-fukutaichou's plan had been a wise one, indeed. She would not be able to handle this beast on her own.

Nemu flared her reiatsu in a signal for readiness as she approached the surface. With sufficient warning, her fellow vice-captain might be able to take the Hollow by surprise. Their combined efforts should prove fruitful in the upcoming battle. All Nemu had to do was be mindful of her own position. Hinamori-fukutaichou was a kidou master, and she would need clear shots at the enemy.

Nemu's lips set more firmly as the brightness of the sun glared into her eyes. Without so much as another glance down to check on her pursuer, she burst forth from beneath the surface of the lake.

* * *

Hinamori's head jerked up when she felt Nemu's reiatsu take a sudden jump. She had no doubt found something below the water and was drawing it upward. Knowing a signal when she felt one, she called a kidou to mind, ready to fire it the instant her target came into view.

Nemu came straight up through the water with scarcely a splash, but she was followed a second later by a long-bodied Hollow, whose sudden appearance brought up a wave so large that Hinamori failed to fully dodge it.

Her own leap was cut short from the force of the wave smashing into her legs. She landed hard on now-muddy ground, the spell almost fizzling in her mind. Hinamori gritted her teeth. No. She would not be stopped so easily. Her eyes snapped to follow the Hollow's movements, and she leveled one hand in its direction.

"Hadou four: byakurai!"

The bolt of lightning hit the Hollow squarely in the side, searing flesh. Growling in pain, the Hollow turned its attention to her, glowing red eyes set deeply within its fishlike head. As far as Hollows went, Hinamori had seen ones far more disgusting-looking than this, but its appearance was still very far from pleasant. But there was something about it that disgusted her far more than the way it looked.

She narrowed her eyes balefully. A Hollow like this might have been what had struck down Hitsugaya-kun. Obviously, that meant that she had to be extremely careful – she truly did recognize his worthiness to be a captain; no one had been more proud than she at his promotion – but she was more determined than ever to put her plan into effect now that she saw the thing. Why was study of it needed, anyway? After what its kind had done, destroying it was the only truly logical thing to do.

The Hollow actually snorted at her. "Such a tiny thing, to be attacking me in such a way. This is nearly as embarrassing as the one of our number who was destroyed by a child."

At that, Hinamori swiftly and decisively climbed her feet, and in the next instant, she had Tobiume in her hand. This beast was going to mock Hitsugaya-kun? It might not have mattered what her orders or plan had been at this point; no Hollow would speak of her friend as though he were some feeble footsoldier. And if he wasn't here to defend his honour, then she would just have to do it for him.

"Your fellow was destroyed by a captain. It doesn't matter that the captain looked like a little boy." She leveled Tobiume in her enemy's direction. "And I am a vice-captain. Not a 'tiny thing.' Your fate won't be any more embarrassing than the other's."

The Hollow looked as though it were about to laugh at her, but it abruptly hopped to the side as Nemu came down from above, fist slamming deeply into the recently-vacated ground. In spite of herself, Hinamori blinked. Wow. That was some impressive physical strength that Nemu had.

She forced those thoughts away from her mind. This was a battle; she had to concentrate. And it was the prime excuse to destroy the Hollow in the middle of combat, while it still counted as a threat.

Especially when it decided to come straight at her.

"Bakudou thirty-nine: enkosen!"

The Hollow bounced off the shield of reiatsu that sprung up in front of her, claws digging deep furrows into the ground as it managed to keep its feet. Hinamori allowed herself a small sigh of relief as the shield dissipated. The spell was only a short-term defense, and she had called upon it purely by instinct, and almost too late, at that. This Hollow was fast.

But not fast enough to avoid a sudden, crushing kick to the leg from Nemu. That's right; she would be aiming for the non-lethal areas so that it could be captured. Exactly how was Hinamori supposed to prevent all that? A hobbled Hollow tended not to be particularly threatening, and this one had thus far demonstrated no ranged abilities.

Her eyes widened and she instinctively hurried into shunpo as she saw the Hollow's tail swing out in Nemu's direction. In the next instant, she was in its path, bringing Tobiume down in a swift chop. The blade bit deeply into flesh, and a spray of blood washed over her. Hinamori gritted her teeth as she applied more pressure, finally managing to slice clear through the tail, which fell heavy and lifeless to the ground.

She spun around in time to see the Hollow leap back, roaring in pain and fury. It landed awkwardly, one of its back legs being injured, blood still pouring from where she had severed its tail. Its eyes fixed on her, paying no attention to Nemu. Which made sense, really; Hinamori was the one who had inflicted the more grievous wound. Steeling herself, she lifted her sword into a defensive position.

"Vicious, the both of you!" the Hollow snarled. "Worse than the child! But you will fall as he and the woman did!"

Hinamori's eyes narrowed as she suddenly realized an oddity. By and large, Hollows were not social creatures; they hunted on their own and even resorted to cannibalism when there was none of their preferred food available. And yet this one knew of Hitsugaya-kun and Rangiku-san, even though all evidence had suggested that they killed the Hollow that they had faced. She didn't understand what that could mean; she would have to bring it up with Aizen-taichou later and see if he had any thoughts as to how that was possible. He should be aware of such important information.

But first things first. The Hollow needed to be destroyed.

As much as she wanted to retaliate to the callous words it had spoken, Hinamori glanced over her shoulder at Nemu. "Are you all right? I can make a distraction to conceal us so it shouldn't be able to evade any more attacks."

Nemu never removed her eyes from the Hollow. She nodded curtly. "I have not been damaged. Create your distraction, and I will take advantage of it."

While Hinamori did not need to chant this spell in order to cast it, she leveled her gaze at the Hollow and began the incantation anyway. It would serve as warning enough for Nemu to prepare her offensive, and though their enemy was approaching now, it did not do so in a full charge. Being wounded must have made it more wary. Whatever the case, it lent her more time to do as needed.

She swept her free hand out in front of her as she finished. "Bakudou twelve: fushibi!"

The sky in front of them sparked, flashed into flame before forming into a thick wall of smoke. Wind rushed over Hinamori's body as Nemu flew into shunpo, speeding past her for her attack. Good. They should both be able to get a hit in now, and Hinamori would aim hers straight at the Hollow's mask. For more reasons than just her plan, she needed to destroy it.

She darted into a shunpo of her own as soon as she heard a pained growl from their target; it would be sufficiently distracted now. Though the smoke stung her eyes, she willed them to remain open; two glowing spots of red gave her all that she would need to see, the only place where she would need to aim. Both hands on Tobiume's hilt, she swung the blade in a wide arc, fully intending to finish this with one strike.

But she grunted in surprise when she did not strike bone and her swing jerked to a stop. Had she not been holding on with both hands, she would very likely have lost her weapon. She could still not see around her, though an ominous pair of thuds told her that Nemu must have gone down. What had happened? Did the Hollow see through the attacks so easily?

As the smoke from her kidou cleared, Hinamori realized her situation. Instead of cleaving through the Hollow's mask, she was dangling a few inches off the ground, her sword held securely in the creature's teeth. How it had managed to defend itself in such a way, Hinamori did not know. But what she did know was that if she didn't do something quickly, she and Nemu would indeed be the next victims.

She glared into those bright red eyes that were so uncomfortably close. "Snap, Tobiume!"

Hinamori could sense her blade changing shape, a prong growing out of either side. And as soon as the sword finished its transformation, she commanded it to fire. There would be no defending against this one.

Kidou exploded within the Hollow's mouth, blowing apart the mask. Hinamori yelped as the force of the explosion flung her backward, her hands tightening around Tobiume's hilt to avoid dropping it. Basic lessons demanded that a shinigami do everything possible to maintain a hold on her weapon, and she would not be separated from it so easily.

"Agh!"

She landed hard on her side, rolled for a few feet before she stopped. For a few moments, she lay there, gathering her breath, lifting one hand to wipe sweat from her brow. Hinamori then dragged herself to her knees, hissing in response to the pain that swept through her body at this action. No doubt she was bruised all over, though at least nothing was broken as far as she could tell. A trip to the Fourth would tell if she was correct about that or not.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou, are you harmed?" Nemu's voice sounded from above, clinical as ever. No concern in it at all. And yet it managed to be comforting, in an eerie sort of way. At least she was all right.

Shaking her head, Hinamori finally pushed herself to her feet. She slid her sword, now back in its sealed state, back into its sheath. Idly, one hand rubbed at the other wrist; she must have smacked it on the ground when she had landed. Overall, she didn't think that the damage was particularly bad.

"Not badly, no," she answered. A quick glance around their surroundings showed that all evidence of the Hollow had disappeared, save for a little blood on the ground. Even the tail that she had severed had dissolved when she'd destroyed the mask. "But thank you for –"

She stopped short as she finally got a good look at Nemu. Though the Hollow's blood had splattered onto her too, that was not what caught Hinamori's attention. One side of her abdomen was significantly crunched inward. Anyone else would have been on the ground from the sheer agony of broken ribs, but though there was pain in Nemu's eyes, she still stood as straight as ever, had probably walked over here as steady as any healthy person. What was she made of, that she could withstand such an injury and scarcely show any sign of distress?

"Oh, my goodness!" Hinamori gasped. "Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou, we should head back immediately and get you into the Fourth. That wound looks dreadful."

Nemu blinked as if in confusion. "My injury is not so dire as to need immediate attention. And going to the Fourth Division is not necessary. Mayuri-sama will repair me should he deem it worth his time."

If he thought it was worth his time? Hinamori frowned, not in anger toward Kurotsuchi-taichou, but in pity toward Nemu; the woman valued herself so little next to her captain. Of course she was worth it; she was his vice-captain. The idea of being cruelly dismissed by one's own captain was something that Hinamori just could not comprehend. Especially after working so hard for him.

"Why wouldn't he think you're worth it?" She couldn't keep the question inside. The concept was so unfathomable that she absolutely had to ask. "It's not like you've done anything wrong!"

Nemu glanced to where the Hollow had been a few moments ago. "He wished for a live specimen. I have failed to bring that to him. I expect that I will be punished first."

Guilt welled up inside of Hinamori, and she looked away. This was a side of her plans that she had not even considered before now. By destroying the Hollow, she was guaranteeing a severe punishment for Nemu. It didn't sit right in her gut, but what else was she supposed to do? Kurotsuchi-taichou was dangerous to Seireitei as a whole, and he could not be allowed to examine these Hollows. She believed that wholeheartedly, but it never occurred to her before that someone perfectly decent might suffer dire consequences as the result of her actions.

Hinamori felt a little sick.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou? Are you certain that you are all right?"

She started at Nemu's voice, and looked back to her. A little sadly, she smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. And I suppose we should gather everyone together and return to make our report." She glanced over to the lake. "We've found the origin point of these Hollows, it seems."

Nemu nodded. "Understood."

No hesitation, even though she expected punishment. Hinamori might have found that admirable if Nemu's captain wasn't so monstrous. As it was, she had to wonder if the poor woman would see the light of another day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Hey, all! I'd just like to make note that this chapter is where the story earns its M rating, so everyone is aware. Mayuri isn't nice about punishments, after all.

_**In Spite of Appearances**_

**CHAPTER NINE**

So far, they had seen nothing.

Whether or not that was encouraging, Hitsugaya could really not say. No danger, but no sign of Seireitei, either. He was not greatly familiar with the mid to high numbered districts of Rukongai, but it should have been no big hurdle to find the way back. Even though they had all been travelling pretty much straight east, the landscape remained largely the same. Granted, they were not able to move at a high rate, out of consideration for the many among them who could not shunpo, but still. By now, they should have seen some sign of civilization.

That prickling feeling came over his skin, and he frowned. "Oshiro. Take Akiyama and scout out a few kilometres ahead. Flare your reiatsu if you find anything dangerous, but do not engage it on your own. Otherwise, wait there for the rest of us."

The two officers nodded in unison, and slipped into shunpo. Before long, they were out of sight, though the thought did not bring him much ease. Had he not been needed here for command purposes, he would have gone ahead himself rather than sending lower seated officers. Hopefully, they were sensible enough to not stand in harm's way if they could avoid doing so.

"You really think something's out there, don't you?" Matsumoto asked from where she was running at his side. Even though they had been over an hour at this pace, she did not complain, or gasp for breath. All that laziness she exhibited around the office was a show; she could clearly handle activity just fine. "Is it really such a good idea to send the lower ranks out there first, then?"

She was questioning him again, but somehow he could not find it in himself to be annoyed by it. There was something different, more respectful in her tone this time, and perhaps that had mollified him. Or maybe that the two of them were thinking along similar lines. Either one spoke well for her, in any case.

"If they act sensible, they shouldn't be in significant danger," he said. "And it's not like either of us can't get there quickly if it turns out that there really is trouble. I imagine that they'll be fine."

A soft chuckle escaped Matsumoto's lips. "You're being awfully trusting for a change. Are you sure you're feeling okay? Normally, you like to do everything yourself."

Hitsugaya shot her a mild glare. A chuckle, even a soft one, was inappropriate at a time like this. "Not everything." No, not all of the office work was his. That, he would very much welcome some assistance with. But now was not the time to say so. "And I'm needed more here, where I can issue orders to the group as a whole. Since you'd come with me if I went, the group would be down a lot of its leadership."

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Matsumoto's serious nod. So she'd accepted the explanation, then. If he had gone ahead, he would not have bothered to contest her insistence upon going with him; it would have been a waste of time. She might have begun to respect him as a captain, but she still would not leave his side, even if ordered. Once they got out of this, they were going to have to strike some kind of balance on this issue.

Maybe – just maybe – he really would have to let a few things go. Hell if it was the time to admit that, though.

They continued on in silence for the next few minutes. No sign had come from the scouts so far, and yet even so, he found his hands tensing, wanting to pull Hyourinmaru. It was ridiculous paranoia; he wasn't going to alarm the rest of the group by drawing his sword when there had been no clear sign of danger. But that still did not stop the dragon from rumbling proudly in his mind, eager for a chance to fly.

Or perhaps the paranoia had not been so ridiculous, after all.

Hitsugaya's head snapped up as the reiatsu from both scouts spiked up suddenly, rippling over his skin. They had found something. And judging from the urgency of their reiatsu, they were going to need back-up as soon as possible. Well. No time to delay then.

"Okada. Keep everyone on pace and approach cautiously."

These were his only words before stepping into shunpo himself, hand reaching back and grasping Hyourinmaru's hilt. He said nothing to Matsumoto. The order was not needed, after all; already she was at his side, Haineko firmly in hand. Sometimes, he didn't really need to talk to get his point across.

* * *

Unohana frowned down at Agano's body. She had already stitched up all over her incisions with kidou, making the girl's body whole again after the procedure. The results of her work had not been very promising, though she had detected a slight irregularity in the spirit particles of the girl's blood.

Gently, she placed a sheet over her body, covering even her still face. It had been a particularly dreadful way to die, and there was still a pang of guilt within Unohana that she had been unable to help despite being present when it had happened. The spirit particle irregularity might be only a small clue, but it was a clue all the same and she would work with whatever she had.

Shaking her head, she turned to leave, but her exit was suddenly blocked by one of her unseated division members. The man was positively breathless, cheeks red from exertion from running here from wherever he had been working. And his eyes were wide with terror. He blinked for a second before he managed to gain wits enough to speak.

"Unohana-taichou! In the . . . emergency care, wing . . . another one just like . . ." He gestured frantically in Agano's direction when he could find no more words.

Her eyes widened. It was happening again? Or had already; her messenger had not been able to clearly communicate that much. Either way, the situation demanded her immediate attention. She quietly thanked him for the report and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder for a second before moving past him and toward the emergency care wing.

The patient's distress was clear as soon as she was near enough, and she quickened her pace. Though it seemed wrong to do so, she took that distress as a good sign. It meant that the patient still lived, and that she still had a chance to save him. She would not let another one die in such a manner on her watch.

She hurried into the room, where the victim was still stretched out in bed, sheets stained red with blood. Moving to his bedside as the on-call officer backed away to let her through, she swiftly peeled the sheet off to get a better look at the wounds and instinctively wrapped a kidou barrier over the body. Her hand barely even flicked to summon it.

The worst of the wounds was at his hip, a deep, ugly gash that cut into the muscle, severed tendons. She placed her hand over the injury, her palm becoming slick with blood as she did so. Even as she watched, the tendons began to knit back together just as they should have. But the healing had been normal enough on Agano at the start as well, and Unohana frowned grimly at the idea that things were not going as well as they might have seemed. This man was not yet safe.

Another wound suddenly sliced down his shoulder, with no visible cause, and he screamed. A quick, clinical glance told Unohana that the cut was a shallow one in comparison to the one at his hip and was not bleeding enough to cause any problems. It would have to wait until she stabilized the more serious injury.

And through the connection of her bloody palm, she abruptly sensed a force possessed of lethal intent, ready to strike. She blinked at this, but did not draw her hand away; whatever this was, she needed to experience it as surely as she needed to heal this man. She could all but feel the force lash out, and quickly discerned that she would have another injury to examine in a second.

But then the force jerked to a stop, suddenly, as though something had impeded its progress. And in the next instant, she felt it dissolve altogether, leaving her with a normal, if seriously injured patient.

Unohana tightened her lips as she continued to heal. She was unsure of what she had just experienced, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was key to what was happening.

* * *

Hitsugaya immediately placed himself between Oshiro and the Hollow, sword brought across his front in a block. He gritted his teeth at the force of the Hollow's hand pressing against the blade, but held firm. With much effort, he managed to push the appendage aside. He brought his sword back into a guard position, critically examining the creature before him.

It looked much the same as the one that he and Matsumoto had fought by the lake, though there was no body of water in sight of this location. But its appearance was odd in and of itself. Only the Gillian class Hollows were supposed to have a uniform appearance, and those certainly looked nothing like what was before him. Each Hollow had once been a unique soul, and thus two were rarely all that alike. If it were possible, Hitsugaya almost would have thought that these Hollows had been bred. Which was patently ridiculous and therefore not a thought worth entertaining.

Furthermore, the reiatsu this Hollow was giving off – and the reiatsu of the one by the lake, for that matter – was nowhere near Gillian class. It wasn't spectacularly powerful, and yet these creatures had taken out multiple squads of shinigami. That just wasn't right, but he would have to think on this later.

The Hollow's tail swept out toward him, and he grasped Oshiro by the arm as he leaped out of the way. A quick shunpo in midair brought him back several yards, and he set the man down as gently as he could. Which wasn't very, but at least he had tried. He spared Oshiro a cursory glance. Wounds to both his shoulder and his hip, the latter looking far nastier. But at least it seemed that his life wasn't in serious danger. It was just that he was in no shape to fight any longer.

"Stay here. Wait for Nakahara and the others and get yourself treated."

Hitsugaya was gone again after that, confident that he would be obeyed. If for no other reason than the man probably couldn't move very much as it was. But whatever the reason, the result was the same and that was what counted in the end. Nobody was going to die if he could help it.

He returned to the battlefield just in time to see Matsumoto fire a kidou in the Hollow's direction. It mostly managed to dodge, though the spell singed one of its back feet. Hitsugaya readied his sword when the Hollow brought its tail around, fully prepared to intercept, but he stopped short when Matsumoto brought her own up into a strong block and shoved away the tail.

The Hollow dodged her next thrust by leaping into the air, and Hitsugaya knew an opportunity when he saw one. In a flash, he was in front of the creature's face, Hyourinmaru poised overhead. In one swift stroke, he brought the blade cleanly through the mask, and the Hollow dissolved into nothingness.

He landed lightly, eyes scanning the area for more threats. But upon seeing none, he sheathed his sword and turned to Matsumoto. From what he could see, she had suffered no injury this time, not even a scratch. She didn't cringe or favour any part of her body as she helped Akiyama to his feet. Good. She was all right, then.

"What happened?" he asked, striding over to the two of them. From what he could see, Akiyama was a little shaken up, but not otherwise injured.

Akiyama straightened his sleeves – a nervous habit, perhaps? – before speaking in a composed voice. "I'm not quite certain, sir. It seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and we didn't have the time to get far enough away for proper observation. It was all that we could do to last until you and Matsumoto-fukutaichou arrived."

Hitsugaya nodded at the report. It was a strange one, but with all of the oddities about this place, he was inclined to believe it. "I see. Oshiro is all right; he's injured, but not too severely and the others should arrive shortly." He waved a hand in the man's direction. "Go on. You're dismissed."

The relief on Akiyama's face was not lost on him; it had been quite obvious how worried he was about his companion. Now that official business was concluded, there was no harm in allowing him to indulge his concern. Until he'd examined the situation himself, no one else was needed. Well, Matsumoto might be. When she chose to be, she was quite perceptive, and he could really use such a quality at his side right about now.

She smiled down at him. "That was awfully nice of you, Toushirou-kun."

Shrugging, he began scanning the air with his senses. There had to have been some sign of the Hollow's impending arrival, even if neither of the scouts had felt it. Perhaps their senses were not as finely tuned as those of more senior officers, and reiatsu sense was a rather difficult thing to train, for all its seeming simplicity. Most had to figure it out on their own, and perhaps those two had not developed enough refinement to pick up the more minute traces.

"Did you have a chance to ask everyone, yet?" He did not bother to clarify his question. Matsumoto would know what he was asking about.

She mimicked his posture, searching the air herself. "Took a while, but yeah. Most of them had no idea what I was talking about; they hadn't felt a thing. But the officers all noticed it a bit. They said they'd just gotten used to the feeling and didn't really think about it anymore. I'm not sure what to make of all that."

Hitsugaya frowned. Interesting. All of the officers, and evidently none of the unseated. Perhaps it was linked to the person's reiatsu levels? He needed a little more information before he could confirm that suspicion. Hopefully, Matsumoto's findings carried that little detail.

"How strongly? For each of them. Did you notice a trend between the person's rank and the amount of discomfort they felt?" He was fairly confident of his observation, but a little extra proof certainly wouldn't hurt.

Silence reigned for a moment as he gave her time to process his questions. Continued prodding at the air had yet to reveal any dimensional disturbance that might have heralded the Hollow's arrival. Which was frustrating, though he was not willing to stop the check just yet. There had to be something here.

"Actually, yeah," Matsumoto said at last. "Don't know why I didn't think of it then, but it seemed that the higher the rank, the stronger the prickling. Nakahara barely noticed anything, but Okada said that it had been bugging him like hell before he learned to ignore it."

That was the proof, then. Nakahara was the lowest seat among the other officers, and Okada the highest. And when Hitsugaya felt it, the sensation was so horrendous anymore that he almost wanted to flay his own skin off just to relieve the discomfort. Matsumoto wasn't much better off; she had taken to whining about it, and for once, Hitsugaya couldn't blame her. The pattern certainly fit.

"Some kind of reiatsu clash with the air, maybe?" he pondered aloud. On purpose, so that Matsumoto could throw in any additional thoughts or observations. The key to this whole mess was in here somewhere, and any more information could only help. "The unseated shinigami wouldn't have to worry about it, on account of their weaker reiatsu. But the fact that the sensation gets stronger the more powerful the reiatsu suggests that the reiatsu must be brushing against something that agitates it."

"Almost like static electricity." Matsumoto nodded. "Yeah, that really does seem to make sense. But what could be causing that? I mean, if that's the case, then how come we don't feel that way all the time? There can't be that much natural difference in the air in various parts of Soul Society."

She was right. Unless they were up in the mountains, there should have been no significant change in the air. And thinner air was not the problem here. Rather it was the rough prickling, and the heaviness that surrounded anyone's hand should they attempt to summon a Hell Butterfly. There was no place that he knew of that fit such parameters.

Hitsugaya stopped his search of the surrounding air. All bets were off if what he now suspected was true. They could no longer rely on the conventional principles of their abilities. Not now.

"No, there can't," he said levelly, folding his arms across his chest and giving her a serious look. "Which means that we're not in Soul Society at all."

* * *

"Mayuri-sama."

Mayuri did not look up at the soft sound of Nemu's voice. He had important work to finish, and he would not have her interrupting. It took a certain amount of impertinence for her to even address him at a time like this, but he would not take precious seconds away from his work just to punish her. Punishment could wait until he was through. It wouldn't be but a moment more.

He finished inputting the last of the data into the computer, and encrypted the file. Precious few knew anything about these machines anyway, but he would not have his research left in a state equivalent to leaving an open folder on the table. He was not that careless.

Turning in his chair, he gave Nemu a critical look. Her head was bowed as always, arms hanging loosely at her sides. Curiously enough, the left side of her abdomen was indented, as though she had taken a hard blow. One of rather impressive power to cause so much damage to her in light of his recent modifications to her skeleton. But what was she doing in taking such a hit, anyway? Stupid whore, not getting herself out of the way in time.

"What is it?" he snapped. This had better not turn out to be a waste of his time. "Am I to take your pathetic state to mean that you have failed to acquire me a proper sample?"

"I am sorry, Mayuri-sama." Her voice was, as always, inflectionless, and that only served to anger him more. Could she not sound guilty? Frightened? "This Hollow put up an unexpected amount of resistance and could not be captured alive. Hinamori-fukutaichou destroyed it, as she found prudent."

At this, Mayuri rose from his chair and gave Nemu a rough smack across the face. She cried out weakly and fell to the floor, limp as a doll. But her eyes were open and clear; it was not injury that kept her from moving, but subservience. She would not get up until he gave her leave to do so. Which was proper; she would not even exist at all, were it not for him. If nothing else, the imbecile knew her place.

"I gave you an order. It did not leave you room to allow for the whims of one of Aizen's officers!" He kicked the injured side of her abdomen, and she choked, coughing up a mouthful of blood. And still, she did not move. "You should have stopped her before she had the chance to do any such thing."

Just what was Aizen playing at, to order his vice-captain to destroy the Hollows rather than capture them for study? It was against the Captain Commander's orders, after all. Mayuri didn't care one whit what that old man wanted, but in this case the command had been in his favour. And he did not tolerate being denied what was rightfully his. If he wanted something, he would have it, regardless of what his "colleagues" tried to do against him.

Aizen was playing a dangerous game.

"I am sorry, Mayuri-sama," Nemu said again once she could speak. She had much to answer for, but that phrase already grated on him fiercely. Apologies were nothing more than useless platitudes. "I had already been damaged at that point, and by the time that I was able to move, Hinamori-fukutaichou had already destroyed the Hollow."

Mayuri's entire body shook with rage. How dare she try to excuse herself. It was absolutely disgusting. Did she truly think that was going to help her cause? Make him forgive her for such idiocy? Even Nemu should have known better than that.

He knelt down beside her, staring into those flat, emotionless eyes. There was no intelligence in them; they were just as empty as her head, and that only served to infuriate him even more. Straightening one hand into a flat blade, he drove it into her undamaged side, expertly aimed between her ribs.

Her scream did little to mollify him, and he gritted his teeth before speaking. "Do not make excuses for yourself. You shouldn't have been damaged in the first place. If you were not such a careless slut, you would not have been in that situation. You should admit to your failure."

Nemu's eyes were clouded with pain, but her face still bore no expression. "Y-you are correct . . . of course . . . Mayuri-sama. The f-failure was . . . mine . . ."

Mayuri snorted and withdrew his hand from her stomach. It was fully coated with her blood, but he did not care. In his work, he touched things far less pleasant than that, and for her failure, Nemu deserved to bleed for a while. He would repair her later – he did not simply destroy projects in which he had invested so much time and effort and that occasionally showed promise – but for now she could suffer the consequences for her failure.

In disgust, he glanced down the rest of her body to see if she had been stupid enough to suffer any other damage. Overall, everything else seemed to be intact, though there was a splatter of blood on her leg, with no evident sign of injury beneath it. That was quite curious. Could he dare hope that this stain was what he though it was? It would soothe his temper somewhat to have something to work with.

"And what is this?" he asked with a pointed nod toward her leg. "Did Aizen's vice-captain bleed on you, or is this actually something that will be worth my time?"

Nemu drew in a shuddering breath, and her voice caught a few times before she managed to form any words. "Hinamori-fukutaichou w-was not . . . injured in a fashion that would . . draw blood. The Hollow had a t-tail . . . She severed it, and . . ."

Mayuri paid her no mind as she broke off into a coughing fit. This was favourable news, if not what he had wanted in the first place. If he could not have the Hollow yet, then at least he could have a piece of it. That hardly excused Nemu's bungling, but the mission hadn't been quite as much a waste of time as it had seemed a few moments ago.

"Stay there," he ordered, rising to his feet and heading over to the supply shelves. He pulled down a box of swabs, and returned to her side. "Now show some intelligence for a change, and don't move. I need to collect all of the Hollow blood that stained you."

"Yes, Mayuri-sama." Nemu's voice was barely audible, but she spoke her acquiescence nonetheless.

Not that it mattered to Mayuri. He was already busy swabbing the blood from her leg. One could never have too many test samples, after all.


	10. Chapter 10

**_In Spite of Apperances_**

**CHAPTER TEN**

"Okay. Could you try explaining this one to me?"

Matsumoto's brow furrowed when she asked this question, trying to puzzle out what Toushirou was saying. Oh, what he had said was clear enough, but she didn't quite understand how it was possible. Really, if they weren't in Soul Society anymore, wouldn't that have been obvious? This place didn't have the distinctive feel of the Living World about it, and though she had never been there, all available information suggested that Hueco Mundo was a desert. And this place was certainly a far cry from that.

"You were paying attention, right?" Toushirou's voice was sarcastic, but it was lacking in bite. A reflexive response, then. He sighed. "There's too much a difference in the air, Hollows are literally appearing out of nowhere, and even when straining my senses to the limit I can't sense a single other soul than any of us. Either everyone else has been displaced, or we have; I'm going with what makes the most sense."

She itched at her neck as the prickling feeling came over her again. Ugh. That was getting to be such a nuisance. How could anyone get used to this? Though, in fairness, she guessed that she was suffering it more strongly than anyone except Toushirou. And she understood his logic, but that wasn't the only possibility. It was a good one – she'd give him that – but there was still another option out there.

"What makes you think we're not just surrounded by some kind of barrier?" she asked, brushing a lock of hair back over her shoulder in an effort to distract herself from the itch. It didn't work. "That could still account for everything you just described."

She expected to be snapped at for questioning his conclusions, but to her surprise, he merely frowned thoughtfully. She'd noticed over the past couple of days that Toushirou seemed to be taking her opinions a little more seriously, and though she liked that very much, it was still kind of odd. Still, this was the looser side of him, and that could only do everyone – including Toushirou himself – a world of good.

Toushirou was finally starting to act like a captain rather than a dictator. He would make it at his rank yet.

"I suppose that's possible," he conceded. "Still. It would have to be one hell of a big barrier for me not to have sensed its walls with how far I've cast out. And why would we have been put in one when it would have been so much easier just to kill us, instead? Something still doesn't add up."

Matsumoto frowned. He had a good point there, she had to admit. What was the use of sticking them all inside a barrier when the simpler thing to do would have been to kill them outright? The whole situation was just as fishy as ever. Their conclusions did not give them very much to go on, as far as plans went. But when an officer of superior rank was about, it wasn't incumbent upon her to draw up the plans.

"So." She glanced ahead, where she could now hear the voices of the rest of the squad gathered together. Everyone was still intact, it seemed. "Whatever our situation is, do you have any ideas on how to get out of it?"

Toushirou was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. "Maybe not quite yet. But there's something I want to check out. And for that, we need to find a lake."

She blinked, not sure what to make of his words. Still, it wasn't as though she had any better ideas to offer. Might as well just go along with whatever he was thinking. His people skills still needed a lot of work, but there was nothing wrong with his strategic abilities.

So she smiled down at him to show her support. "Well, I suppose we should get to that, then."

* * *

Hinamori's other hand clenched into her hakama as the Fourth Division member healed her wrist. No matter what she did, she could not get over the guilt she felt for doing her chosen duty. It had been such a terrible plan. She should have done as Aizen-taichou had ordered and just assisted in the capture no matter her feelings on it. By acting on her own, she had condemned someone else to a terrible fate.

She would tell Aizen-taichou, when she was released from here. If she had to endure punishment for her disobedience, then she would. It would hardly be inappropriate in this case, and at least her own captain was not nearly so vicious as Kurotsuchi-taichou.

Hinamori pointedly did not think of what Nemu must have gone through by now.

She hissed a little as a fracture in her wrist knitted together. Apparently, she had fallen on it a bit harder than she had thought. That was the worst of her injuries, though, and when it all came down to it, she had gotten off easy. Not like Nemu. And not like . . . Hitsugaya-kun and Rangiku-san. Hinamori had been very, very lucky.

The warmth of the healing kidou faded from her hand, and she finally looked over to her healer. He was a man who looked middle-aged by traditional standards, though as a shinigami he was doubtless older than that. Hinamori mustered a tiny smile at his kind eyes.

"That should take care of the worst of it, Hinamori-fukutaichou," he said with a smile of his own. "Though I would advise that you not wield a sword for a few more days, just to make certain that the bones have properly set."

Experimentally, she rolled her wrist. There was still an ache there, though nothing so bad as the sharp, shooting pains that she had been experiencing earlier. And the joint did still feel a bit weak. It was nothing that would prevent her from any field work; she relied on her kidou a great deal more than she did her sword. In any case, she might wind up suspended from active duty, anyway.

She slid off the examination table and smoothed out her shihakushou. Not that it was terribly wrinkled – she had performed the same action before she had been called back for treatment – but she needed something for her hands to do. Otherwise, she might start wringing them and prompting questions as to whether she was all right. She didn't want to worry people with her personal problems.

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind," she said with a shallow bow, and headed for the door. But she stopped before stepping out of it, casting a worried glance at the man over her shoulder. "Um, could you tell me if there's been any change in the conditions of Hitsugaya-kun . . ." She trailed off here. It wasn't appropriate for her to address him that way to another shinigami. "I mean, the conditions of Hitsugaya-taichou and Matsumoto-fukutaichou?"

Perhaps it wasn't really her place to ask, but she simply could not come to the Fourth and not inquire about them. It would be nice to have some good news to bolster her before confessing her disobedience to Aizen-taichou. She would take any reprimand gladly as long as Hitsugaya-kun was all right.

The man's features softened into a frown. "I'm not personally privy to such information. But I've heard nothing to suggest that there has been any improvement or decline in the condition of either one of them."

Hinamori wasn't sure if she should be relieved or not. No better . . . but no worse, either. Were they going to stay like that forever? It might have been a silly thought, since it had only been a few days since she and Nemu had found them by the lake in West Fort-Eight, but she could not help the worry that nagged at her. They should have been better by now, and the fact that they weren't was very disturbing.

Still, that was hardly this man's fault. So she thanked him quietly and headed off to her own division. First to her own quarters, to wash off the blood and change into a clean uniform, then to Aizen-taichou's office. She had to face the consequences of her actions.

* * *

From all accounts, the mission had gone well.

Aizen sat behind his desk, filling out a mundane form with no thought as to what needed to go on the page. Paperwork was hardly a challenge that required all of his focus. But while he was still presenting himself as a captain, it had to be done, and he made certain that everything he did was done well. To do less would offend his sensibilities.

He had only second-hand reports on the mission at this point, but they made him smile nonetheless. However much it irked him to lose his experiments, he at least still had the results safely in hand. Hinamori had successfully destroyed one of his Hollows, rendering research from the Twelfth impossible. Had his affection for her been genuine, he might have been proud of her, for taking out a creature that had downed a captain.

Though he would admit that he found the idea that his Hollows were yet strong enough to defeat a captain a little farfetched; he had vouched for Hitsugaya's captaincy himself, and knew his ability. The boy and his vice-captain must have had severe miscommunication, or some other petty factor in their way. Children. Such utter foolishness.

As if on cue, a soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. The tentativeness of the action would have told him it was Hinamori even if he hadn't sensed her reiatsu approaching for the past few minutes. He had privately observed her commanding her troops, and she had exhibited no such tendency around them; it was purely the effect of his own presence. Perhaps she thought she had done something wrong by obeying his true order, rather than the one he had spoken?

"Hinamori-kun," he said gently, setting his brush aside. The paperwork could wait. "I have told you before that knocking is unnecessary when you seek to enter this office. Please come in."

At this, she slid the door open and quietly stepped inside. Her chin was level, but her eyes were cast toward the floor, afraid to meet his. It was almost cute, the way she tried so hard to keep herself steady. She certainly expected some punishment for her perceived disobedience. But it would hardly suit his purposes to punish her, even if she truly had gone against his orders. His expressing any disappointment in her would have her curling up in a corner. Anything more was unnecessary.

He moulded his features into a mask of concern. "Hinamori-kun? Are you all right?"

Hinamori finally looked up at that. "I . . . yes, sir. I'm fine. But I've some bad news about . . . about the mission. I'm sorry."

Aizen rose from his chair and crossed the office. Placing a solicitous hand between her shoulder blades, he guided her over to sit on the couch. She did not resist, or even let out a startled gasp at his actions. Instead, she silently complied, and bowed her head when he took a seat next to her. She truly was quite disturbed. Even after such kind gestures, she found it difficult to look him in the eye.

"I am sure you've nothing to apologize for." He leaned forward slightly to examine her features, and saw that a few tears had gathered in the corners of her eyes. "Everyone came back safely, did they not? Your mission was successful."

She tensed a little at his last statement. "I do have something to apologize for, Aizen-taichou. Yes, everyone came back safe, but I . . . I disobeyed you, sir. I willfully destroyed that Hollow even though we were ordered only to capture it. I'll accept any punishment you see fit for my disobedience."

Well didn't she just submit so beautifully? The fact that she came to confess this to him even though she expected harsh consequences spoke well for her loyalty and courage, but she bowed down in the end. It was a quality that he needed in her, for her to be desperate to please him above all else. Thus that also entailed accepting and fearing any disappointment he threw her way. She would not question him. In her eyes, she had done so in this case, and look what a mess that had made her.

"I see," he began slowly, as though hesitant to speak. Placing a warm hand on her head, he smiled gently. "I am not angry with you, Hinamori-kun. In fact, I applaud your courage. You followed your heart where I could not, and that is something to be praised, not punished."

Hinamori finally lifted her head, disbelief and adoration warring in her brown eyes. "But, I-I . . . that is . . . It was still against orders, sir. I shouldn't have done that. And since I did, Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou must have been . . ." She looked away again, and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "She said that her captain would punish her, for failing to get a live Hollow. And you . . . you know what Kurotsuchi-taichou is like. He'll hurt her. Badly."

Ah, yes. Kurotsuchi was indeed a most unforgiving sort with his subordinates; it only stood to reason that he would severely take his vice-captain to task for being unable to get what he wanted. The look of disgust on Aizen's face was genuine, but not for the treatment of Nemu as a person. Rather, it was born of the thought that someone could be so stupid as to damage his own pawns. That would not further any plans, and could in fact hinder them. Kurotsuchi might have prided himself on his intelligence, but he only falsified that pride with this kind of behaviour. The man had no idea how to use people properly.

Even if Aizen had wanted to help the Twelfth's vice-captain – which he did not; she was meaningless – it was too late by now. Kurotsuchi would have wasted no time delivering his reprimand. Whether or not the girl recovered was irrelevant. He could put a spin on the events either way that would only earn him adoration in Hinamori's eyes.

He ruffled her hair a little. "I fear it will have been too late for me to prevent her punishment by now, Hinamori-kun." He removed his hand from her head, and sighed sadly. "Kurotsuchi-taichou is far too cruel on such matters. How a captain could harm his vice-captain so is beyond my understanding. At best, I can implore him to change his disciplinary methods so that these circumstances do not recur, but he will be under no obligation to listen to me."

Hinamori blinked, and her face fell, just a little. "I . . . suppose so. I'm sorry, Aizen-taichou, for asking you to do something after nothing can be done. And I don't think that he would listen to anything you have to say about Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou. Her captain will have been very displeased with her, coming back with no sample, yet covered in the Hollow's blood."

Covered in Hollow blood? Aizen's eyes widened slightly. That was most unusual. Normally, every particle of a Hollow would dissipate after it was destroyed by a zanpakutou, and that included the blood. Had making their thought-scape more corporeal done the same for the blood? It was a strange connection, and without more thought on the matter, he was unable to understand how those aspects were linked. And for that, he might need samples of his own.

And Kurotsuchi would have them. Once the man came to the conclusion that the blood on his vice-captain had come from a Hollow, he would have something concrete to research. He could not be permitted to use it. Perhaps he would pay a visit to the Twelfth Division, after all.

He needed to get ahold of at least one of those samples. And find some unobtrusive way to destroy the rest. Though maybe it was best to avoid the risk of dirtying his hands on this. He would go to the Third instead; Gin ought to enjoy such an assignment.

"It does you no good to dwell upon things already transpired, Hinamori-kun," he said, tilting her chin up so she looked him in the eye. Inwardly, he smirked at the slight flush to her cheeks this had prompted. Foolishness. "I will do what I can to speak to Kurotsuchi-taichou on the matter. The effort must be made, even if the result comes to nothing. And I will not punish you; that would not sit well with me. You may continue to perform your duties as always."

Hinamori's eyes shone, her face brightening considerably. "Thank you so much! I'll do my best not to mess up like this again. I swear!"

He chuckled warmly and gave her an affectionate pat on the head; she was being so amusing that he couldn't resist. "I have no doubt that you will perform exceptionally. Perhaps both of us will find success in our further endeavours today." Aizen rose from the couch and favoured Hinamori with a smile. "I will make my way to the Twelfth now, to see if I might better things for the future."

* * *

In her mind, waves lapped gently along a smooth shore, periodically swallowing up the sand. Those same waves flowed around her bare feet, the water pleasantly warm against her skin. The sensation was enjoyable, but it was not the reason that Unohana had come here.

To outside eyes, she would seem to merely be sitting in her personal gardens, sword unsheathed and laid out before her. Of course, those who knew better than that would understand. Any shinigami who had achieved shikai would do well to practice this, even though many did not. More was the shame, really. The strength of the bond between wielder and zanpakutou was something to be nurtured, not ignored.

Thus she often entered her inner world, though in this case she was seeking guidance, as well. And so she fully projected herself onto the shores of her mind.

The water rippled smoothly as a huge form slowly rose to the surface, creating remarkably little splash for something so large. One enormous red eye regarded her with fond thoughtfulness as the body regally swam to a stop against the shore. Her hand reached out and gave him a calm pat. She was not a large woman by any imagining, but she would seem even smaller next to something of such gargantuan proportions.

_You are troubled today, Retsu,_ came Minazuki's smooth voice, laced with a hint of concern. _It saddens me to see such a downcast expression in your eyes._

She smiled at his worry. Over their long partnership, Minazuki had watched over her, guarded her, even though she knew that he did not lack confidence in her abilities. And she was not afraid to come to him at times like this, when she needed advice, or help puzzling through a confusing situation. They were not merely partners in healing and in battle; she respected his opinions just as much – or perhaps even more – as anyone else's.

"I must confess that this is not merely a social visit," she said. "I have come upon an occurrence that I find most bewildering, and I need your help so that I might comprehend it."

Mild amusement permeated Minazuki's voice this time, and he lightly splashed his tail in the water. _This must be a great mystery, if you find that you need my aid to solve it. Your mind is a sharp one, and does not bewilder easily. Tell me the story then, Retsu. I shall do what I can to aid you, as I ever have and ever will._

Unohana gave him a thankful pat on his rubbery skin. She had not expected him to refuse her, but for him to voice such was worthy of gratitude all the same. "You know, of course, of the patients being brought in from recent Hollow attacks. The ones who have remained comatose in spite of all their injuries being healed. A few days ago, one perished under my care, struck by some unseen force that either penetrated my kidou barrier, or worked within it."

_I see._ Minazuki twitched his fins in thought. _If you sensed nothing in the room with you, I would contend that whatever this force was, it was working within the shield. Anyone close by would have noticed a reiatsu spike powerful enough to puncture a barrier of yours. Yes, it must indeed have been inside the barrier, somehow._

Silently, Unohana nodded. She had come to that conclusion herself, but had wanted to hear Minazuki's thoughts on the matter. If she had missed something, he would see it and inform her of where the error of her observation lay. Of course, this still did not answer the question of what the force was, or why it was able to hide itself so effectively.

"I thought as much," she said after a moment, but her story was not yet finished. "And yesterday, it seemed primed to happen again – a sudden unseen attack, one that continued despite the barrier. But when I placed my hand against one wound to heal it, the moment I touched blood, I could sense power, and lethal intent." Her brow furrowed as she recounted the tale. "And just as quickly, the sensation ended, even though I had not drawn my hand back. The patient came to no further harm, and I was able to properly tend to him."

Minazuki's eye narrowed in a clear expression of puzzlement that would have been cute if not for the gravity of the situation. _This . . . is most unusual. Blood is life, and it is possible to get a sense of a person's distress from it. But that would not simply vanish without withdrawing contact. Whatever the threat was, it was removed somehow before it could cause further harm._

Despite herself, Unohana blinked. Removed? But by what? She had done nothing differently than she had with the girl who died under the same circumstances. If it was nothing on her part, then perhaps it was something on the part of the patient.

"So this man fought it off somehow?" she asked, casting her gaze to one side as she considered this. An unconscious man could fight nothing. Not anything corporeal, at any rate. "Perhaps this threat was in his mind then, so powerful that it could affect his body so drastically?"

Minazuki hummed thoughtfully. _I have not encountered anything that could attack the body from within the mind. Not directly. Whispering madness into someone's head, causing them to harm themselves has happened before. But not this. And yet no other explanation forms in my mind. I think, Retsu, that you may very well be correct. And if you are, then there is only one choice to remedy the situation._

Though he did not voice what that option was, Unohana knew it instinctively. She nodded her affirmation. "To eliminate such a threat, one must destroy its source." Smiling, she bowed at his massive form. "Thank you, Minazuki. As ever, you have helped me greatly. The next time I visit, I will ensure that it is under happier circumstances."

_A visit from you is always pleasant, Retsu. No matter the reason for it._ His voice had brightened a bit from its previous sombreness. _Though I confess I will enjoy discussion on lighter topics next time._

Unohana managed a giggle as she withdrew from her inner world, returning her consciousness from the waves to her gardens. As usual, the visit had soothed her nerves, and this time, it also gave her purpose. That simple conversation had caused all of the pieces to fall into place.

She sheathed her sword and climbed to her feet, slinging the rope attached to the sheath over her shoulder. Some of these mysterious Hollows had been killed, and yet none who they had injured had managed yet to come out of their comas. Which meant that while those Hollows might have inflicted such a state, they were not its true cause.

A commander, or a host body working at the back lines? It was a distinct possibility. And if it did indeed exist, then that was what needed to be destroyed.

Lifting one hand, she summoned forth a Hell Butterfly to alight upon her fingers. She smiled fondly at the creature before recording her voice into it. "Yamamoto-soutaichou. I have reached a breakthrough in my investigation of the death of Agano Sayuri as well as the remainder of the comatose shinigami that were brought in by recent Hollow attacks. If you wish, I will report to you in person to explain the details, but I do believe that a captains' meeting will need to be called in light of this situation. I will defer to your judgement on the matter."

She softly thanked the butterfly, and twitched her hand delicately to send it on its way. Finally, it felt as though they were making progress on this situation. Destroying the source would eliminate all of its effects, and those remaining in critical condition would at last be able to recover properly.

Purposefully, she made her way back to the hospital. It would take time for Yamamoto-soutaichou to make his decision, and it would not do to sit idle during that time. She needed to be on hand for any of the emergencies that might come about.

Even if her aid was not what had saved that man's life, she would stand by the side of anyone in that state all the same.


	11. Chapter 11

_**In Spite of Apperances**_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Something was different.

Okada, being that he wasn't in command of anyone at the moment, had the luxury of time to think about such things. He followed his captain and vice-captain from the middle of the front-line squad, and could not help staring at the two of them, brow deeply furrowed. Yes, something was quite different.

He had kept his head down after Matsumoto-fukutaichou's reprimand – metaphorically speaking, of course; if someone didn't have his eyes up when facing her, he tended to get a solid punch in the head – but that didn't mean that he couldn't observe things. And contrary to popular belief, he was not a complete idiot. His mouth tended to run away with him, was all.

On that morning – it seemed so long ago, but it was only something like three days – he, and most of the others, had awakened to the sound of Matsumoto-fukutaichou yelling at Hitsugaya-taichou. The two hadn't seemed to have been getting along well at all, for all that they each got mad at him for saying something out of line to the other. After that, the tension between them was obvious.

And yet now, here they were, moving as though one. Not once had Matsumoto-fukutaichou raised a whine to Hitsugaya-taichou's orders. And not once had the captain snarled in frustration and snapped at her to shut up. Something between them seemed to have gotten resolved, somehow, though the particulars were beyond Okada.

Not that he had a problem with the two of them getting along. He just wasn't really sure how it had suddenly happened. But so much the better if it resulted in getting them all out of this mess.

Okada frowned, picked up his pace a little to keep his superior officers in sight. They had split up again, this time into the front line and back line, and under orders were searching for a lake. He wasn't quite sure what Hitsugaya-taichou was trying to achieve with this – he didn't seem the relaxing by the water's edge kind of kid – but it was safer for him right now to not question the orders. Especially with the new solidarity between the captain and vice-captain. Jaw frozen shut as well as a punch to the side of the head? He could do without that, thanks.

And so he kept himself in a battle-ready state as commanded, senses cast wide around him in search of any potential threat. His hand rested lightly on his zanpakutou's hilt, which had become disturbingly common for him since he'd been here. Normally, he wasn't so paranoid, and yet his hand constantly strayed to his sword. It didn't help that the sword's spirit kept whirling through his mind, demanding to be let out for "play." Honestly, he didn't know how he had ended up with such a wild zanpakutou; in instances like this, the sword's idea of fun didn't match up to his.

Okada's eyes caught something to his right. It was a bit of a way off, but he could tell well enough from here. He might not have known why they were looking for a lake, but that didn't make him unable to spot one. And he was honestly curious about Hitsugaya-taichou's plans for it. Hopefully, it was something good; the kid had to be pretty impressive to get where he was at his age, but he was still a kid. How well that was going to translate was still very much up in the air.

"Hitsugaya-taichou! To the right," he stated in the most official tone possible, and hoping that it didn't sound like an order. If it did, the captain was going to give him hell later.

Okada gulped as Hitsugaya-taichou's eyes latched onto him for a moment, the familiar yet frightening annoyance emanating from him. Oh, hell, it must have sounded like an order. But then the captain's gaze snapped to the indicated direction, and he nodded. And that was that; he changed direction – Matsumoto-fukutaichou doing so practically simultaneously – and the rest of the group followed suit.

Now that his captain's eyes were elsewhere, Okada sagged in relief. For such a little guy, Hitsugaya-taichou had one hell of a scary face when he wanted to. Hopefully, Okada wouldn't find himself in trouble later. He was honestly just trying to be helpful and do his duty.

He ended up having to do a quick shunpo to arrive at their destination within a few seconds of his superiors. Maybe they were quick enough without it, but he was not. The rest of the team would follow shortly, he was sure.

Uncharacteristically silent, he took in the surroundings. The wide, flat plain, dotted with trees in the distance reminded him all too clearly of the lake where he and his squad had been attacked. Okada shifted uncomfortably and kept his eyes on the ground. Some of his people had died there, while he had been unable to do anything to stop it. While he could take some consolation that a few of them had survived, that didn't change the fact that lives had still been lost. When they got back home, he was going to have to pound down a few drinks. He'd never dealt well with deaths in his squad.

"So, when do we get to find out what this is all about, Toushirou-kun?" Matsumoto-fukutaichou asked.

Despite himself, Okada felt his lips quirk up into a small smile. Oh, how he would have loved to be able to get away with calling the captain by such a familiar name. But between the short jokes and the head-patting, he was well aware that he wasn't in a position to get away with anything. And he'd never addressed any captain with anything besides his or her title; he wasn't quite that suicidal.

Hitsugaya-taichou let out a quiet huff, probably in response to the name. "I'm not starting anything off until everyone's here; I don't want a situation like last time. Okada." Here, Hitsugaya-taichou turned to him, expression stern, but not scathing. "Signal the back line squad. We're not making a further move until they get here."

Okada nodded once. "Right, sir."

He might have laughed at the fact that Hitsugaya-taichou blinked at his simple acceptance. Seriously, though, Okada knew very well how to follow orders. This wasn't exactly a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. But he kept his amusement to himself, and raised one palm to the air as the rest of their squad finally caught up to them. Not even bothering with an incantation, he fired a shakkahou into the sky, where it exploded like a firework.

The rest of the team should be along shortly.

* * *

If he wanted to, Gin could have considered the way that people skittered out of his path to be rude. After all, doing something like that could hurt self-esteem, and that was just downright mean. People were just so thoughtless these days. Yes, he could have seen it that way if he wanted to. But instead, he found it incredibly amusing. So disturbed by him, and yet not fleeing in terror from their own captain? It was hilarious.

Security clearance meant little when one was a captain, especially a captain that others tried to avoid at all costs. So it was really no trouble to gain access to the laboratories of the Twelfth Division, even though Kurotsuchi actively discouraged visitors. Downright shame, that. Visitors could be fun. Though he didn't think that Kurotsuchi was going to find his visit entertaining, especially if he caught on to what it was really about. Either way, the Twelfth Division captain was not going to be a happy man when this was over. Or a happy whatever-he-was. Gin wasn't sure if he could even be called human anymore, with all of the freaky stuff that he had done to himself.

He wandered idly down the halls, periodically popping his head into a laboratory just to poke a little fun at the scientists working there. The quivering fear from some, and the red-faced irritation from others made his constant grin widen ever more. He could have just sensed Kurotsuchi's reiatsu and gone straight to him, but where was the fun in that? Aizen-taichou may have asked him to come here for a specific purpose, but the man knew better than to expect he wouldn't indulge in a little extra amusement along the way.

Ah, a closed door at last. That would be where Kurotsuchi was; he didn't like to share his work with the general public. What a selfish guy. Though any information he might get on the experimental Hollows had the potential to be troublesome whether he shared his findings or not. Hence why Gin had been sent here: to get rid of the evidence. Taking shots at the Twelfth Division captain was just a bonus.

Gin pried the door open with a certain amount of effort – closed and locked, did Kurotsuchi trust no one? What a shame – and grinned brightly as he entered the private laboratory. And that grin only widened when Kurotsuchi looked over his shoulder and sent him a scathing glare.

"Well, good afternoon to ya, too, Twelfth captain!" he said cheerfully, then titled his head to one side. "Ya know, that's a pretty rude way to greet a guest. Nobody's gonna come by if ya ain't acting nicer than this."

Somehow, Kurotsuchi's scowl managed to deepen. "And good guests do not typically barge their way into locked rooms. Do not lecture me on politeness, Ichimaru. What do you want?"

Gin only paid a minimum of attention to his words, folding his hands behind his back and rocking on his heels like a small child. His gaze swept across the room, trying to find where Kurotsuchi was storing the samples of Hollow blood that Aizen-taichou was certain he had. Surely they would be labeled; scientist types tended to be meticulous about that kind of thing. Gin himself couldn't stand the idea of being meticulous about records, which was why his office was an utter mess. That, and it was fun to watch Izuru try to make sense of where everything was.

At last, he brought his attention back to Kurotsuchi. "Well, that's not nice, accusing me of bein' bad company. I like to think I'm a pretty pleasant fellow. And do I need an excuse to just drop by and visit a fellow captain?"

"What you like to think and reality don't coincide, Ichimaru." Kurotsuchi's voice took on a sharper edge. "And yes, you do need an excuse. Especially for coming to see me. Now, I ask you again: what do you want?"

Gin took a few steps further into the laboratory, rubbing his head bashfully. "Ya don't have to be so mean about it, ya know. And I already said that I just came to visit. Ya shouldn't be repeatin' questions people have already given answers to. Makes ya sound like yer either deaf or senile." He took another quick sweep of the room. Nothing yet that could indicate what he wanted. Did Kurotsuchi not keep them anywhere visible? "So, what'cha up to?"

Kurotsuchi snorted and turned back to whatever he was doing. "What I've currently tasked myself with is none of your business. If you didn't come here for anything productive, then get out."

At this, Gin's smile widened a little. Oh, wasn't that nice? If he had something productive to do here, then he could stay. How delightful of Kurotsuchi to give him such permission. Finding and destroying any possible evidence against Aizen-taichou was very productive, after all. It was so nice to know that he was welcome.

He made his way over to a nearby shelf, taking in the various jars and boxes placed there. Every now and then, he peered into one of the jars, eyebrows rising in delight at the ones that at least resembled organs. Stored for posterity. How wonderful. He scanned the labels on the boxes, still not finding what he was looking for. His features momentarily formed into a pout. Kurotsuchi was making this harder than it had to be.

But his smile returned as he picked up one of the jars, turning it around to get a view of all the angles. Was that a kidney? It certainly looked like one. Oh, dear, who had Kurotsuchi taken apart to get that? Must have been awfully painful for the poor fellow, assuming that he had been alive at the time. Perhaps he hadn't been. Then again, Kurotsuchi wasn't exactly the nicest guy out there; it was certainly possible that he had harvested the organ from a living – and conscious – body. It would have been the way that Gin would have done it.

Abruptly, the jar was snatched out of his hands and he looked up to see Kurotsuchi looking particularly annoyed. Really, it was almost too easy to get a good reaction out of the guy. Still not as fun as the reactions he got out of Rangiku's new little captain, though; watching that boy try to maintain his dignity made him want to fall down laughing. It was so cute.

Would be a shame if the kid died, really. And Rangiku . . . For a split second, he frowned. If Rangiku died, Aizen-taichou would have that much more to pay for when the time finally came.

"I thought I told you to get out," Kurotsuchi snapped as he carried the jar over to the table where he was working. Oh, did he need it for something, then? "And don't touch anything else. I don't need clumsy fools manhandling any important resources. There is a reason that I work alone, Ichimaru."

Gin wouldn't have left at this point even if he didn't have any orders. What did Kurotsuchi need to use that kidney for? The curiosity was too much for him to stifle – not that he tried very hard. He simply had to know what use a dissected body part was going to be marshaled for, and he wasn't leaving before he discovered this.

So he stepped up behind Kurotsuchi, and peered over his shoulder in very obvious fashion. Might as well use the opportunity to bother him even more, even if it were not the entirety of his intent. And Gin lifted his brows at the sight on the table before him. Well, that would explain why he needed that kidney, then. Such a lovely, bloody mess of a person on the table.

"You said I only had to leave if I had nothin' productive to do," he replied as his smile widened. "My, my, those are some nasty little injuries on her, ain't they? What happened to your pretty vice-captain, Twelfth captain? How awful!"

Nemu seemed to be unconscious – or deactivated, or whatever; was she even a person? – and simply lay motionless on the table. Blood stained her chin, and her torso was cut open, exposing her inner workings to the open air. Not that the right kidney seemed to be doing much besides bleeding, what with that hole in it, and all. Seemed that she was in the process of getting a transplant.

"What happens to my creations is no business of yours." Kurotsuchi didn't even favour him with a glare this time. That was no fun. "And you've yet to prove that you are here for anything productive. My edict still stands."

Gin shrugged, and returned his eyes to scanning the shelves for his target. Surely, if Kurotsuchi had those samples he would keep them here, in his own private laboratory; he wouldn't have wanted some low-level schmuck getting ahold of them. After all, look at the little fit he threw at a fellow captain for something so minor as admiring an internal organ.

Oh. Gin paused, looking over his shoulder, his gaze finally settling on something promising. On a middle shelf sat a box with yesterday's date printed on the label, and some really long number written below it. A project number, or something? Gin didn't know, and frankly didn't care. The point was, Kurotsuchi would have taken the blood samples yesterday, after Nemu and Hinamori had returned from their scouting mission. So that could well be the object of his search, right there. Now he just needed to figure out a way to destroy it.

"That's mean. I can't be concerned for the welfare of a young lady?" Gin folded his hands into the sleeves of his shihakushou, and shook his head. "Sad thing, that. Even sadder that keeping someone company isn't considered productive, these days. Goodness, what's the world comin' to? C'mon, Twelfth captain, don't be part of the problem. Show a little hospitality."

Clearly, one thing or another that Gin had said struck home – or Kurotsuchi was finally sick of dealing with him, which was also a possibility – because Kurotsuchi silently elbowed him in the stomach. It might have been intended to simply cut off his speech, but Gin knew an opportunity when it hit him. Literally, in this particular case.

He stumbled backward at the blow, making certain to crash into the shelves on the wall. His shoulders smarted when he hit the shelf, but when he felt the structure give way under his weight, he could not bring himself to be bothered by the pain. So far, so good. With an undignified thump, he hit the ground, instinctively bringing one arm up to shield his head from the plummeting scientific paraphernalia. He kind of needed to stay conscious to finish off this little escapade.

Once various nasty objects stopped raining down upon him, he swept his gaze around the mess he'd created. It was a perfectly natural reaction, and not at all contrived – because who wouldn't look around after something like this happened? – but it also allowed him to see if his guess had been correct. Now what had Aizen-taichou said the samples would look like? Ah, yes. Slides. And lo and behold, several of them had scattered onto the floor, each with a telltale dollop of red in the centre. Gin knew blood when he saw it.

"What have you done?" Kurotsuchi's voice was somewhere in between a shout and a shriek He stood over him, literally quivering in fury. "You clumsy buffoon! Do you realize how much you've ruined?"

In point of fact, Gin didn't. He was, however, sure that it must have been quite a lot, considering how upset his host was. Well, so much the better. It might have been part of Gin's job to look suspicious, but having the blood samples be the only thing destroyed would have been too much of a coincidence for anyone to pass off as his usual questionable behaviour. So the more research destroyed, the better.

Gin adopted a put-upon expression. "What're ya so mad at me for, Twelfth captain? I mean, you were the one that hit me; I tried to keep my balance. Just 'cause I didn't manage it doesn't make this my fault." He forcefully stopped a grin from forming on his face as Kurotsuchi nearly choked on this explanation. "It really doesn't reflect well on ya as a captain to go blamin' other people for yer own mistakes."

Now he had to stifle a laugh as Kurotsuchi squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to rein in his temper. On one of his own people, Kurotsuchi would not have hesitated to mete out punishment. But Gin was of another division, and a captain at that; there would be consequences for taking such deliberate action against him. So Gin took the opportunity to palm a few of the slides, since Aizen-taichou needed a couple for his own research, and tuck them into a pocket on the inside of his haori.

Kurotsuchi's eyes snapped open into a very impressive glare that would have terrified almost anyone else. "I didn't strike you as hard as all that! If you had any co-ordination at all, this would not have happened. Now get out of my sight; you've destroyed enough!"

No, Gin had not destroyed enough. Not yet. If he could manage another distraction, he could quietly muster up a very weak kidou to incinerate the rest of the evidence. Various dark powders lay spilled around him, anyway; the presence of ash would not appear out of place.

"Now, see, there ya go again," Gin continued innocently. What to distract him with? Oh. That might work. "Besides, should ya be leavin' your pretty vice-captain all opened up like that? Isn't that bad for the insides?"

Kurotsuchi just scoffed. "Nemu is an imbecile, but she is still one of my creations. Do not insult me by saying that something so mundane will damage a creature of mine. I have designed her better than that."

Well, that didn't work at all. Gin was going to have to come up with something quickly, before he ran out of excuses to stay here any longer. He could only get away with things for so long before it was better to just ease off. That point hadn't been reached, but it was fast approaching. So, prompting attention to the vice-captain didn't work. What could he try next?

The situation was suddenly taken out of his hands. Through the door flapped a Hell Butterfly, no doubt having woven impressively through the Twelfth's corridors. As soon as Kurotsuchi's attention flitted over to it, Gin poised his hand over the remaining slides, and let free a quick, weak kidou. In that instant, the slides flashed into ash, anything potentially incriminating to Aizen-taichou now lost to the world.

Mission accomplished.

Kurotsuchi ruthlessly banished the Hell Butterfly, nearly smacking the poor little thing against the wall. "At a time like this! Doesn't that old man realize that I have important things to do here?" He glared down at Gin. "Even more of them, thanks to you. Stand up, Ichimaru. The Captain Commander has called another emergency captains' meeting. Feel lucky for the timing."

Gin allowed his smile to come back now. How wonderfully convenient; it would be a while before Kurotsuchi even knew what all was destroyed. Though it was sort of too bad, too; he would have loved to hear the man complain about his lost research at the meeting. Perhaps another time.

He climbed to his feet and dusted himself off, counting himself lucky that nothing excessively gooey or gross had spilled onto him. "Oh, trust me, Twelfth captain. I do feel lucky. Very lucky indeed." Gin stepped around Kurotsuchi. "Really am sorry about the mess, though. And don't worry; I can show myself out."

Oh, what he would have given to be able to capture the reaction on Kurotsuchi's face. That kind of outright, baffled rage was just too precious for words. He would have treasured that look for years to come, if he could have. Well, maybe he could anyway; it wasn't as though he'd be forgetting it anytime soon.

Gin very nearly skipped down the corridor on his way to the meeting.

* * *

She was almost impressed with how quickly all of the captains had convened. Granted, an emergency summons tended to get them all together more quickly, but this went beyond even that. And the meeting itself had been called in greater haste than she had expected.

Unohana stood in her designated place between Soifon-taichou and Kuchiki-taichou, hands folded in front of her as per usual. She had been somewhat surprised when she had received the return message from Yamamoto-soutaichou stating that he trusted her judgement on the matter and that the captains were to assemble immediately. And that she would have the floor to explain her findings once the meeting began.

Kurotsuchi-taichou was the last to arrive, which was not terribly uncommon given how little he tolerated being drawn away from his research. But as he took his place, Unohana noticed him throw a particularly venomous glare in Ichimaru-taichou's direction. It seemed an unusually strong reaction to the other man's presence. Ichimaru-taichou must have done something that had upset him recently.

Unohana's attention turned back to Yamamoto-soutaichou as he thumped his cane onto the floor to signal the beginning of the meeting. Any such ponderings of her fellow captains' moods could well wait until they had dealt with the situation at hand.

"We shall waste no time on further formalities," Yamamoto-soutaichou began. "Time may well be crucial. Unohana-taichou. Your findings and recommendations."

His gaze did not soften at all when he rested it on her, and yet Unohana felt comforted all the same. She inclined her head in a respectful nod before she spoke. "I of course need to inform no one of the recent casualties among our ranks; most of us have lost at least a few." Unohana noticed a few pairs of eyes glaze over at her lead-in, and she steeled the expression in her eyes; they would treat this information with the gravity that it deserved. "Even more recently, a survivor of these Hollows fell under attack by an unseen force within the Fourth, and despite all efforts suddenly suffered a fatal injury. There was no trace of anything in the room."

"Ha!" This came from Zaraki-taichou, who regarded her with a most inappropriate expression of amusement. "So the master healer couldn't do shit, huh? Maybe you needed to try a little harder to kill whatever was doing this."

The quiet in the room suddenly took a stunned quality, with Kyouraku-taichou and Ukitake-taichou looking by far the most nervous of anyone. Though Yamamoto-soutaichou generally called order to the meetings when something of his nature happened, he did not do so here. He never interceded on her behalf, knowing full well that she could handle herself more than adequately.

Unohana smiled. "I am afraid that it was not that simple, Zaraki-taichou, else it would have been done. No threat would pass through the Fourth that I would not deal with myself." She held the smile for a moment, until Zaraki-taichou blinked in confusion, shifted his gaze a little, then fell silent. Much better. "Now. Just yesterday, another patient seemed primed to suffer the same fate. But this time, I could feel the threat as I touched the man's blood. And though the threat vanished, it was well before I withdrew, or cleaned the hand. Something warded it off. Perhaps within the man's own mind."

After a moment, Aizen-taichou nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, such things have happened before, have they not? An enemy implanted within the mind." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Not an easy foe to defeat, then. So this is what afflicts Hitsugaya-taichou, as well. We must remedy this as soon as possible, especially if it is something that might yet strike down a captain."

"Destroy the source, and you destroy the effect," Unohana agreed. "Minazuki has said as much, and I concur with his logic. But we have destroyed some of these Hollows before, and yet no shinigami has recovered from the comatose state. This leads me to believe that they are not the true cause. They are being directed by another, somewhere out of sight."

Unohana blinked, genuinely surprised, when Soifon-taichou huffed loudly and crossed her arms, glaring at nothing in particular. Even that much was rare for her at meetings, given her quiet and obedient nature, but this time she also spoke without being prompted.

"So the commander hides behind his lessers?" she asked bitterly. "Disgusting. A real commander neither hides nor runs from his duty. Though we are speaking of a Hollow, and they haven't the sense to know such basic things." Her eyes cut briefly to Yamamoto-soutaichou, but she said nothing more.

The Captain Commander gave no indication that he had noticed this look; his face remained as stern as ever, hands folded on top of his cane. "We've enough information to act. I grant Soifon-taichou her wish of tracking and slaying this Hollow, but I highly recommend that she go in the presence of someone who has already encountered them. Have you anyone to recommend, Aizen-taichou, Kurotsuchi-taichou?"

Unohana watched Soifon-taichou's face at these orders. So briefly that it would have gone unnoticed by someone less observant, rebellion took over her countenance. At the heart of the matter, Soifon-taichou was insecure, desperate to show that she was every bit the equal or even superior of her former mentor. Hence the insinuation that she needed help on this mission was a heavy blow to her. But then her features settled back into their usual frown, and she voiced no protest.

"Hmph." Kurotsuchi-taichou snorted. "I'll not have any of my division part of an expedition that will bring destruction without research behind it. Go on ahead with it if you insist, but you will have no help from me."

Aizen-taichou gave a long-suffering sigh at these words, but when he spoke, he said nothing of his fellow captain's disagreeable statements. "I would offer my vice-captain to be of aid, Captain Commander. She has battled one of these Hollows before, and believes that she knows their origin point. If their commander is to be anywhere, it is there."

"Yes, your vice-captain is so very capable of destroying things, isn't she?" Kurotsuchi-taichou snapped. "Only fitting that you send her when those are the official orders this time, as opposed to the last."

Yamamoto-soutaichou slammed the butt of his cane onto the floor, the echoes shaking the wood beneath their feet. "That's enough, Kurotsuchi-taichou. There is no excuse for this behaviour." He turned his eyes back to Aizen-taichou. "Have your vice-captain briefed and sent to the West Gate within the hour to meet with Soifon-taichou. Dismissed."

As the captains dispersed, Unohana allowed herself a small, genuine smile. Before much longer, the threat would be resolved. Soifon-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou would play their part, and Unohana would play hers.

She slid into shunpo to return to the Fourth. Today, for a change, it was as much the front line as the field.


End file.
